


Snapshots

by Buddikit



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Angst, Angst for days, Caitlyn is emotionally constipated so jot that down, Comedy or at least I think it's funny, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dorks in Love, F/F, F/M, I'm awful at updating i'm so sorry, Katarina likes to have something warm under her so she can digest her food, M/M, My First AO3 Post, Romance Too, Slow Burn, Vi is bae standard, all the champions will be in this just watch me, feelings are hard, me some gays, totally decided to branch out here because I love, who needs them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 14:51:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 48,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10573536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buddikit/pseuds/Buddikit
Summary: One shots based on different moments in the lives of the two women who make up Piltover's finest, sometimes they are multi part stories, fight me. Vi x Caitlyn





	1. Paperwork

**Author's Note:**

> Hey frienderinos, enjoy this thing I've been working on for the better part of a year, procrastination included. I decided to write this owing to a lack of fanfiction for the OTP, let me know what you think guys.

As she stared longingly through the glass that made up the right wall of the office, Vi reflected that she had always had a problem with authority. Stemming primarily from the fact she didn't like to be told what to do. Azure eyes scanned across the Piltover city skyline, focusing on a flock of birds soaring leisurely above the skyscrapers that dominated the city of progress. Her eyes narrowed at the birds, sure that they were flaunting their freedom just to reinforce the bleakness of her current situation. Begrudgingly she tore her eyes from the summer scenery outside, though refusing to lift her head from its current position pressed against her right palm.

Not only was she comfortable, she also did not want to alert the other person in the room to the distinct lack of paperwork being completed in lieu of contemplating a daring escape through the window and into the bustling city below the Piltover police department. Daydreaming brought a glazed look over the enforcers face, as she imagined storming over to the desk of the sheriff, shoving the piles of paperwork onto the floor and demanding that they go get ice cream right now. Followed by her boss jumping into her arms and saying "I thought you'd never ask" with a cloying look just before Vi used her gauntlets to destroy the window then jump out onto the roofs of nearby buildings to parkour their way down into the city below.

"I beg your pardon, but you don't appear to have completed much of your assigned papers" came a curt and clipped voice next to Vi's right ear "If any at all..." Vi was drawn back to earth much the same way she did everything, with a crash. She turned to her right only to find Caitlyn, the famed sheriff of Piltover towering and glowering over her with her arms crossed and a fine eyebrow daintily raised. The expression was one that Vi found herself increasingly familiar with, it meant danger. In a vain attempt to defuse the situation, she decided to feign ignorance, a bold strategy.

"Hey you" she greeted with a charming smile "I was just trying to understand what this question here means, you know I'm still learning the lingo" finishing with an exaggerated sigh and a thrust of her hands behind her head. "Terminology" stated Caitlyn, Vi looked up into her face and raised her own, much less groomed, eyebrow "huh?" she replied with a scrunch of her nose, her very own confused face. "Lingo is a colloquial term, the correct word to use is terminology"'

Vi stared up into Caitlyn's face, trying to ascertain whether she was being serious, for some reason the Sheriff had taken a dislike to her 'vernacular' and had become a walking and talking thesaurus. While she was far easier on the eye than an ordinary book, the reaction from Vi remained the same to both, which was incredulous silence and a scrunched face. Caitlyn sighed and leaned over the paperwork at question, quickly scanning it in attempt to glean what Vi had become confused by. Her eyes darkened and narrowed as she turned to face her partner in countering crime "What precisely were you confused by in this question?" she queried drawing her face level with Vi's.

For the first time now Vi glanced at the paper on top of the pile and was utterly dismayed to find it was an almost blank page with only two questions on it. "Were you unsure of your name or your rank...?" Caitlyn questioned through gritted teeth, her eyes remained fixed on Vi, who was currently attempting to exchange souls with a spider underneath her desk. Vi scowled as this proved fruitless and chanced a glance up into Caitlyn's face, which was thunderous. The enforcer sighed inwardly, accepting her fate and offered an almost sincere "I'm sorry I got distracted, I'm just so bo-'" wincing at how close she had come to saying the word that would be sure to get her a lecture like no other, "-thered by how nice a day it is outside." What a save, internally she had a congratulatory high five, chancing her eyes upwards at Caitlyn, only to find the other woman smiling. It wasn't her manufactured polite smile for acquaintances and colleagues, nor was it her relaxed and casual one, much to Vi's dismay it was not even the cocky smirk often seen on the rift.

Prior to becoming half of Piltover's finest, for every problem Vi faced, her proven solution was always to punch and beat the shit out of it wherever she could. Unfortunately for Vi, the biggest problem she faced in her daily life following Caitlyn's offer of a job, was the lady herself. Whether it was a lecture on how swilling out a cup did not qualify as washing it, or the stern glance she received whenever she came to work a bit hungover, it was apparent that Caitlyn liked things to be just so. Unfortunately for the both of them, Vi liked things her own way too, and they were both exceptionally stubborn. Her issue therefore was that no matter how much she sometimes wanted to punch a Caitlyn shaped hole out of her life, it really wasn't appropriate. Not only as it would probably not be best to batter your boss, but also because Caitlyn was quickly becoming a great friend, despite her many flaws.

Vi tried to remind herself of this as she braced for the verbal onslaught she was to receive, if this were one of her comic books, Caitlyn would be sure to have steam coming out of her ears. Caitlyn stared into Vi's eyes, a painful looking imitation of a smile affixed onto her face and whispered "Pray tell, why are we inside completing a mountain of paperwork on such a lovely summers day?" Before Vi had the opportunity to open her mouth Caitlyn answered herself with a sarcastic "Oh that's right, it is because a particular pink haired enforcer decided that in order to stop a bank heist, it was completely necessary to not only smash through three walls, but also to tear the vault door off its hinges and use it as a battering ram."

Vi winced at how the other woman's tone had not only sharpened during the exposition but how her voice had raised and her face remained so close to Vi's that she could hear her rapidly exhaling. Having their faces so near to one another, Vi could not help but think of exceptionally naughty things, as Caitlyn's chest heaved and her lips remained parted. Vi had always been attracted to women, from puberty onwards at least, and was particularly forthcoming about being a lesbian. Since joining the Piltover police department, she often found it difficult to concentrate on issues like protecting and serving the people, primarily because so many attractive women also worked with her. None more so than the sheriff herself, she was well endowed in certain places and was gorgeous, not to mention she spent most of her time around Vi agitated, which was fast becoming a real turn on.

Vi realised that she ought to say something, possibly in defence of herself or even just downright apologetic, regardless, Caitlyn was waiting for a response, becoming more frustrated by the silence. Her eyebrow arched as Vi took the risky route of defending herself "Hey, I was just worried about the people that were trapped in the office, it was only the two of us and I wanted to use the element of surprise" she stated surely, crossing her arms defiantly at her partner and staring back into dark brown orbs that narrowed with her statement "If I hadn't acted quickly, one of the hostages could have been hurt.'

The two continued to stare at each other defiantly until Caitlyn finally pulled further from Vi and grabbed the bridge of her forehead with her fingers responding with" I know Vi. I know. I appreciate your quick thinking in helping to secure the hostages, they were the main priority as you well know. I just wish you weren't so reckless in damaging property to apprehend the suspects. It makes the amount of paperwork we have to complete afterwards almost unbearable." Caitlyn flicked through the stack on Vi's desk, placing each sheet down after explaining precisely what they were "Accident reports. Property costs. Civilian lawsuits. Arrest papers" she sighed and stared out of the window looking positively forlorn.

The enforcer stared after the sheriff, trying to contemplate the behavioural 180 she had just witnessed, beginning to feel apologetic she decided to stand up from her seat behind the desk and join the other woman. Placing her right hand on her shoulder, Vi sighed and admitted "I know. I am sorry. I suppose rushing in without thinking isn't always great" she moved to face Caitlyn and put both her hands on the brunettes shoulders "just, you know, paperwork really sucks. I didn't realise when I signed up to being the enforcer, that I would have so much of it to do." When Caitlyn looked up into Vi's face she was surprised to see that she was being sincere in her apology, an assessment made easier not only because the sheriff was an excellent detective but also because Vi wore all of her expressions across her face. 

Upon self reflection, Caitlyn had realised that she was being a touch sharp towards Vi. The enforcer, whilst unpolished, always meant well, and was probably as tired as herself. To be brutally honest, she felt shattered, they had been on the night shift together and spent most of it on stake out for a wanted fugitive, which was always tiring. Around eight in the morning, just when they had decided to head home, there was contact about an emergency hostage situation at the bank. Fortunately no one was harmed in the cessation of it, however it was an hour before they could head back to the quiet of the office. Here they had sat for the better part of three hours completing the necessary after action reports, well Caitlyn had anyway.

Vi looked so downtrodden that Caitlyn could not remain angry or even frustrated at the other woman. Even though, she reflected, the amount of paperwork she had to complete had nearly quadrupled since Vi joined the police department. Which had in truth only been a few weeks ago, she supposed that going from a lone wolf vigilante mindset to becoming a responsible police officer had to be difficult. Caitlyn sighed and did something that was quite foreign to her and moved closer to Vi and embraced the other woman in a close hug. As she wrapped her arms around the midsection of the much taller woman, Vi seemed to come out of a trance and was absolutely dumbfounded to find herself in this situation. She had been berating herself internally for thinking that she could ever become a police officer, being too brash and 'ill-mannered' to quote the woman now embracing her.

For failing to even begin any of her assigned tasks since they had come back from the bank heist, armed thugs with crowbars were no real difficulty for her, Vi was sure she was to be given her marching orders. She was exhausted from the day and absolutely buzzing with adrenaline following the successful rescue of the hostages and the capture and arrest of all the perps. The last thing she wanted was to sit in the office they both shared and spend an eternity completing paperwork, though she kind of understood it was necessary, almost. Her arms had been pressed against her sides in shock at the personal contact, something neither of them had much experience with, but now she brought them up and wrapped Caitlyn in a bear hug.

The two women embraced for a short time before Caitlyn broke apart and smiled at Vi before exclaiming "Now then, how about a compromise? I have already completed all my work for the day" at this, Caitlyn crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Vi, though in a much more jovial manner than earlier. "if I assist you in finishing the rest of the paperwork, we can leave as soon as it is done and take the rest of the afternoon off?" Vi was positively beaming at the suggestion and already planning what flavours of ice cream she would try, which would be all of them, naturally. "If" Caitlyn interjected, barging into Vi's ice cream fantasy "you make a conscientious effort to be less destructive, especially during arrests, and complete the necessary paperwork assigned to you."

Vi gave an impression of contemplating the offer, though she was very keen on leaving the office and going literally anywhere else, she supposed that she should probably reign it in a little with the excessive damage and it was only fair to split everything evenly with her partner, including filing. She narrowed her eyes staring out the window and tapping her finger on her chin, her face a portrait of deep thought, sighing, she turned to face Caitlyn who was staring at her with an arm resting on her hip and a relaxed smirk on her face. "Okay, I'm in, but only if we can get ice cream" stated Vi, her ultimatum laid bare, the brunette struggled to maintain a serious visage and let out a small involuntary giggle, which she ceased immediately.

Vi for her part, figured that she had imagined the giggle, it being so out of the ordinary for her boss to act in such manner. She heard no objections and so set to work, throwing herself on the chair behind her desk, she pulled over the first sheet and began the rigorous process of filling in her name and rank. Caitlyn was still standing close to Vi and took the opportunity of her colleague being engrossed in after action reports to watch her for a short time. Vi was something of an enigma to Caitlyn, though by her own admission, the sheriff was an exceptional detective, with analytical reasoning to rival the top scientists in Piltover, of which there were many. Sometimes, for example, when Vi had destroyed an entire cafe attempting to trap Jinx within the rubble, Caitlyn struggled to remember why she had offered a job to the woman in the first place. Especially when her superiors within the police department often felt that the cons of her aggressive policing style far outweighed the positives.

Occasionally though, and far more frequent lately, Vi would do something that would surprise the sheriff. Such as fetching her favourite cupcakes when she was forced to work during her lunch so they could share them, or offering to walk Caitlyn home after a particularly late shift, even though it was not remotely close to Vi's apartment. She smiled, walking over to Vi's desk to grab a chunk of the work remaining, before taking it over to her own and getting stuck in. She supposed it might be nice to take the afternoon off and spend it walking around the city with Vi, at least she wouldn't be bored. With a final glance at Vi, who was evidently deep in concentration, her tongue was poking through her lips as she attempted to make sense of the 'lingo', Caitlyn began writing in amicable silence with a smile on her face.


	2. Stake-Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piltovers Finest get to know each other better during a stake out, Vi ends up being slapped so you know it's all in good fun.

"Want to play a game?" whispered Vi as eerily as she could into Caitlyn's ear. The object of her attention was absorbed, as she always was, by her work. The sheriff was currently holding binoculars to her face and gazing keenly into the upstairs window of a much frequented gentleman's club in a run down area of Piltover. Though it was the city of progress, it was still a city, and therefore home to a few less savoury districts. Caitlyn shushed her without even moving, her eyes remained focused on the window, Vi glanced upwards and was unsurprised to see nothing. They had been staking out this location for the past three nights attempting to catch glimpse of their suspect, an agent brokering some sort of arms deal with the psychopath Jinx. They had fairly good intelligence that the suspect was a blonde male in his mid twenties, who happened to frequent this establishment, though for the life of her, Caitlyn could not understand why.

While not being excited about the prospect of silently observing the 'Hexual Sealing', which she had found a fairly clever name if a touch juvenile, Caitlyn always relished an opportunity to conduct some real detective work. Policing in Piltover tended to be patrols and paperwork, which were necessary if boring aspects of being sheriff. Rarely was she able to use her exceptionally keen deductive skills to help bring criminals to justice, and she was determined to find their suspect prior to him enabling Jinx to attain any more weapons. Caitlyn could feel herself bristling at the thought of their last meeting with the self titled loose cannon, Jinx had tricked them into attempting to capture her only to escape at the last moment, once again. Not only had the ensuing chase caused hundreds of thousands in property damage, with Jinx's insane desire for chaos matched only by Vi's excessive destruction in the pursuit of her, but it had left Caitlyn feeling like a failure.

She was very proud of her intelligence and analytical reasoning, they were valuable traits in her chosen career because most people make logical choices and their motivations are easy to understand and predict. Unless of course you are completely insane and your motivation in life is just to cause chaos and blow things up. Caitlyn was finding herself at a loss to predicting and countering the blue haired criminal, and it was absolutely bothering her. That was one of the many reasons she had reached out to the woman next to her in the vehicle, as perhaps a new attitude and a more down to earth perspective could help to predict their common foe. A notorious one that had so far eluded capture and caused destructive chaos throughout her city, Caitlyn's hands clenched around the binoculars and she started to unconsciously scowl.

"Snog, marry, kill?" came a voice within the vehicle, Caitlyn had been so lost in her scathing self criticism that she had almost forgotten she was not alone. Pulling the binoculars away from her face, Caitlyn turned towards her partner incredulously, Vi chose to ignore this and grinned back at her. "Snog, marry, kill?" Vi repeated "it's a game where one person picks three people and the other has to choose which option for each person." Caitlyn stared back at Vi, actually lost for words for once in her life and could only gape back, Vi thought she was doing a pretty apt impression of that giant catfish on the rift. Vi grinned and asked "What, have you never played it before? Look I'll start" the enforcer ran one of her hands through her pink hair, ruffling it as she stared out of the car deep in thought "hmm, okay, Ahri, Janna and Leona."

Caitlyn stared back at Vi, exclaiming "What a horrid game, why would you want to play that? I don't want to do any of those things to any of those people" she resumed staring at the door to the club for a minute or so before turning back and demanding "and why are all my options women?" Vi responded with a cheeky grin, eyes sparkling and a self assured statement of "wishful thinking." The sheriff rolled her eyes at the comment and sighed, resuming her vigil watching the entrances to the club. There had been no unusual movement either in or out, nor had she seen the suspect, Caitlyn sighed again out of frustration and tried to focus on the situation at hand. Her eyes followed an individual in a trench coat walking into the front door, he was wearing a wide brimmed hat and was rather large, she debated internally as to whether that might be their suspect or just the sort of individual who would visit this kind of establishment.

"Okay then, how about Heimerdinger, Teemo and Corki? I'm fairly certain they're men, or males at least..." trailed Vi, who was reaching desperately for some conversation. She was so bored it was unreal, she was a woman of action, happiest when she was fighting someone or involved in a high speed chase. Aside from paperwork, stake outs were definitely the worst part of being a police officer, she did not cope well with doing nothing, or 'observing' as Caitlyn called it, least of all in silence. It was already quarter to midnight and they had been sat stationary for the better part of three hours, she was finding it difficult to stay sane. Caitlyn was doing her utmost to pretend that Vi had not even spoken and did not react to her question, now focusing her binoculars back onto the upstairs window. Vi became somewhat bothered at being ignored and crossed her arms, sinking into her seat and scowling out of the passenger side window.

A devilish idea came to Vi then, and an almost evil smirk grew across her face, she nudged Caitlyn with her shoulder and pleaded "Come on cupcake, I'm just-" but the statement had the desired effect as Caitlyn turned immediately towards her. "I have asked you on multiple occasions not to call me that, I am the sheriff of Piltover and my name is Caitlyn" she hissed through gritted teeth, her eyes ablaze "I do not tolerate nicknames or pet names." Vi was nonplussed by the reaction of her partner, in the short time they had been working together, she always relished getting a passionate reaction from the usually composed and cold Caitlyn. The brunette became more frustrated at the wide smirk that had appeared on Vi's face, she was finding it very difficult to concentrate on the case at hand, due to her partners inability to pay attention and remain focused.

Vi was aware of how frustrated the sheriff was getting, she couldn't help herself though, she needed something fun to get through this excruciatingly boring experience. Through a wide smirk, she queried "How about a compromise? Since I'm getting you all hot and bothered|" she winked at this comment "I promise to stop talking for fifteen minutes if you play one round of snog, marry or kill with me." Azure met dark brown as their eyes locked, Caitlyn rolled hers once again and desperate for a reprieve responded with "Fine." The Piltover enforcer grinned and placed her hand under her chin, tapping her index finger on her lips, searching for the best options. "You are also not allowed to call me cupcake." interjected Caitlyn firmly, interrupting Vi's thought process who frowned slightly but agreed to the terms.

"Okay, now remember you have to pick an option for each person, you can't back out or choose not to answer" Vi warned, as the two stared at each other defiantly, at Caitlyn's nod of agreement she smirked. "Rengar..." Vi began, the sheriff physically cringed at the name and began having flashbacks to when he was summoned on the enemy team. "..Urgot.." continued her partner and a look of disgust came across Caitlyn's face as she stared back in disbelief, "..Me." she finished with a smirk and a waggle of her eyebrows. Caitlyn's face bore a deadpan expression as she raised an eyebrow incredulously at the now grinning officer. She decided to get her own back and mimicked an earlier pose of Vi's with her hand under her chin and her fingers tapping her lips, her face a portrait of deep contemplation. Pretending to be pondering she started to make 'hmm' noises, each longer and louder than the last, whilst also toying with her lip.

Although Caitlyn was attempting to bother her partner by being rather irritating and pretending that the choices were difficult, the effect she was having on Vi was a different sort of bother. The enforcer was finding it hard to focus on anything but Caitlyn making throaty noises and playing with her bottom lip, in fact she was becoming quite aroused. Her partner in combating crime was of course, stunning, not to mention the English accent was quite attractive, though Vi was fairly certain that she was unfortunately straight. This did not stop her from stealing glances at her when she sure the brunette wasn't looking, right now however, Vi was fixated on her. Caitlyn glanced over after she felt sure she had prolonged answering the question sufficiently, only to find her passenger looking in her direction with glazed eyes and slightly parted lips.

"Are you okay?" she queried hesitantly, unsure of what had happened for this dazed expression to occur. Vi's face cleared almost immediately and the enforcer coughed awkwardly feeling very embarrassed, Caitlyn was surprised to see a prominent blush appear on the other woman's cheeks. "Yeah, sorry, just a little distracted, you know. It's getting late and we've been concentrating for hours." Vi sputtered out, rubbing the back of her neck and looking anywhere but Caitlyn, who was feeling very confused by the whole situation. The sheriff eyed her partner warily, choosing not to question further and glanced out at the front door, only for her eyes to bulge. Suddenly, Vi felt Caitlyn's hand press against her cheek, pushing their faces close to one another and she felt lips press against her ear. "I'm fairly certain the man at the front door is our suspect, he was looking right at us. I am positive we are parked far enough away that he could not see our faces but I don't want to take any chances" she whispered hurriedly.

All of Vi's senses were currently on meltdown, she could feel not only Caitlyn's hand gently cupping her cheek, but also her lips pressed against her ear and by consequence her rapidly exhaling breathing. Long brunette hair was tickling the right side of her face, almost shielding her from their suspect, Vi found that her voice had escaped her and she was screaming internally from the sheer pleasure of close contact. There was also an uncontrollable throbbing that seemed to overpower everything, it would be a miracle if she could form a coherent thought. Caitlyn felt, rather than saw, Vi tense up, though she incorrectly assumed this was due to their suspect almost sighting them, she exhaled "Vi, I need you to have a quick look and see whether he has stopped looking in our direction, I can't move until he has."

Deep down a small selfish part of Vi did not want them to move from their current position but she quickly glanced across and was satisfied to see a man with blonde hair turning and entering the door. She decided to have a bit of fun and turned to Caitlyn, their faces inches apart and leaned in pressing her lips against the brunettes ear "Yeah he's gone" she whispered. She smirked at how hurriedly Caitlyn pulled away from her "Well why didn't you say that if he was already gone? what was the use of whispering into my ear when he wasn't looking?" she demanded haughtily. Vi was pleased to see that her partner looked as flustered as she had felt earlier, though she thought it was because of embarrassment. In actuality, Caitlyn had felt a rush of excitement course through her body when she had felt the other woman's lips press against her ear and was shocked by it.

She composed herself quickly and began focusing on the task at hand, their suspect was in the building and now they needed to work out how to gain any more information than their intelligence had provided. Caitlyn called back to the station, feeling a draft she rolled her window up and waited for one of the remaining officer's to answer. "Piltover police department, Sheriff's office" droned a tired voice, "It's the sheriff" Caitlyn responded in a clipped voice "The suspect in the arms deal has just entered the location, I am going to evaluate the situation before going any further but I am going to need an arrest warrant. I will call back once I have the necessary details." The voice on the line responded with "No problem, S-Sheriff, I'll prepare one for you", the stutter did it, Caitlyn realised she was talking to the new hire, though she could not remember his name. Immediately hanging up, she grabbed her binoculars once more and peered into the upstairs window, waiting for a glimpse of the blonde male.

Though it was possible to enter the 'Hex' and attempt to subdue the suspect, it would be an incredibly difficult prospect, the club was a front for many illicit means. Prostitution, drugs and increasingly weapons were all found underneath its roof, though it was well covered and proof was near non-existent. Upon entry, most officers found the place deserted, with many of the patrons disappearing through what must be tunnels underneath the building and those under the city. These were of course, impossibly difficult to find and Caitlyn was loath to ask the arrogant Ezreal for any assistance whatsoever, even if he did map them. She would sit here and wait for their suspect to leave, follow him to his home and then send for the arrest warrant.

Caitlyn turned to tell Vi her plan, and was shocked to discover an empty seat. "Vi?" she called out, turning to the back seats and roving her eyes across them, "VI!" she shouted upon finding the rest of the car empty, save the hextech gauntlets haphazardly thrown on the floor. She began to panic, eyes darting across the front of the club only to find her missing partner, talking, no flirting would be a more apt word, with the female security guard. Caitlyn was absolutely aghast, they were supposed to be on a stake out, keeping themselves hidden and watching silently in order to apprehend a suspected criminal about to broker an arms deal with Jinx the murderous psychopath. Vi had one of her arms to the side of the tall blonde security woman who was leaning against a wall. Her other hand was raking through her pink hair, a devastatingly charming smile on her face, from this distance, she could not hear what the two were saying but she could see the security woman giggling.

Spontaneous human combustion is almost certainly an urban legend, however at that moment in time, Caitlyn felt as if she could have burst into flames, like an ignite on low health. She was furious and climbed out of the drivers side door, slamming it shut and storming over to the entrance to the 'hex' powered by sheer rage. Vi was still engrossed with the security guard, who was by now biting her lip and batting her eyelids, so she was surprised to hear a dangerously low voice shout "what on earth do you think you are doing?!" She turned quickly to face the very threatening form of Caitlyn and attempted her charming smile only to feel it stripped from her face with the white hot intensity of the fury etched upon the sheriff's face. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Caitlyn almost screamed, she worked very hard to keep her voice down so as to not draw any more attention than they were already receiving.

Vi was flabbergasted, she had never heard Caitlyn swear, like at all, ever. They had been working together for almost three months and not once had the sheriff said anything worse than 'bother', asking the rest of the police department one day when she had been particularly bored, they agreed they had never heard her utter a curse. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise she had a girlfriend" Vi heard from the apologetic security guard who had been forgotten during Caitlyn's appearance. Suddenly she felt a slap sting across the right hand side of her face "How dare you?!" screeched the guard who stormed away into the entrance of the club. Caitlyn was still fuming and pulled Vi by her arm towards their car, berating her as they left, "come on, I can't wait to hear what on earth you thought you were doing, you've ruined the last three nights of hard work, I can't believe you."

"Wait Cait-" Vi attempted to interrupt, though she was still berating her, not ceasing for breath let alone to listen. "Honestly the amount of work that goes into a stake out, especially when you know we can't enter that private property" she continued furiously, "Caitlyn!" Vi attempted once more, this time, the seething sheriff stopped and wheeled around facing her, arms crossed and a thunderous facial expression. "His name is Jacob Exen, the suspect" spoke the apologetic enforcer, looking desperately into the other woman's eyes "I figured it might be worthwhile seeing what the security guard knew. I know that when I was in my gang, I always used a fake name where I lived just in case the police discovered it." Caitlyn's eyes narrowed at the exposition and her arms remained crossed, Vi continued "We had a network in place and when the fake name you used was input into the police database, you were alerted and it meant the property you were in was compromised. Your real name would alert you as well but it wasn't tied to the property."

Caitlyn's eyes widened at this comment, if they had followed the suspect to his home and sent for the necessary arrest warrant, it meant he might have been able to escape into the night and slip from their grasp before they could stop him. Her dark brown eyes scanned over the downtrodden form of Vi, a bruise darkening her right cheek, and she winced internally. Vi stated sullenly "I thought she may know something about the guy who just went in, especially if he's a regular and she was hesitant to talk initially, that's why I was charming it out of her." Caitlyn rushed over and hugged the other woman tightly, almost knocking the breath out of her, she hurriedly started "I'm very sorry for being so aggressive earlier, I just thought-" she was cut off by Vi stating "It's okay, it was stupid. It could have went really bad. I'll run it by you next time if I ever feel like doing something that might get me slapped again, okay?" she grinned down at Caitlyn.

The sheriff pulled herself from the other woman and opened the car door, setting herself down on the seat and waiting for her partner to get in. Vi threw herself in with gusto and grinned at her partner, her eyes sparkled as she regarded the brunette and she gasped. "What?" replied Caitlyn, who had had quite enough surprises for the evening, thank you very much. "Earlier you never answered my question!" Vi stated in an accusatory tone, Caitlyn responded with her own smirk and stated "as I recall, you did promise to be quiet for fifteen minutes." At this, Vi made the motion for sealing her lips shut and throwing away the key, to which Caitlyn rolled her eyes and laughed. "Fine, based on this evening, I would snog Rengar, marry Urgot and kill you" she teased with a wide smirk and a nudge of her shoulder towards Vi who was looking very depressed by the whole evening and seemed to deflate upon hearing those answers.

Caitlyn stared over at Vi, deciding to cheer up the downtrodden enforcer she reached over in the car and gingerly grabbed the bruised side of Vi's face, pressing her lips against her left cheek, "I'm only teasing cupcake" she stated sweetly, as she sat back in her seat. Vi who was feeling very subdued until that point, felt her entire body burn reacting to the lips pressed against her cheek, in a very deliberate kiss. That irksome throbbing returned and she petitioned her body to keep under control, perhaps the stake out hadn't been too boring, she thought, unable to keep a foolish grin from erupting on her face as she stared over at the brunette in the driving seat. As they settled into a comfortable silence, the blonde male reappeared at the entrance and after pulling his scarf tighter, headed towards a brand new and very flashy sports car. After stopping momentarily to have a quick scout of his surroundings, he got in and started the engine.

"Finally" sighed Vi, who reached behind her in order to grab her gauntlets, she always felt naked without them, especially on duty. Caitlyn however felt that the purpose of undercover observation might be compromised if a pink haired woman with giant mechanical hands was spotted, there definitely weren't many of those around. Their suspect had just begun to move off, Caitlyn turned with a grin to Vi and queried playfully "can we at least wait until after the warrant has been obtained before punching or questioning?" Vi grinned back at her and stated confidently "anything for you cupcake."


	3. Get Jinxed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi ends up facing more than she bargained for with a criminally insane villain. Caitlyn searches to find her partner, reconciles that life would suck without her.

All she had wanted to do today was to get ice cream, reflected Vi as she dodged a miniature rocket headed towards her. It whistled over her head as she ducked, before it exploded into the side of an upmarket office building, as she turned to face the damage shards of glass rained down upon her from above. "Fuck!" she exclaimed, holding one of her gauntlets above her head for protection, her eyes scanned fretfully across the scene in front of her. Rubble was strewn across the street and a large truck was tossed onto its side, cargo spilling out, while a fire blazed inside a fashion boutique. Many of the other buildings were so far untouched though this was almost certainly just a matter of time. 

"Hey fat hands! Hey you over there, don't ignore me. I'M TALKING TO YOU" a high voice screeched from atop the ablaze boutique where a blue haired girl in pig tails stood not at all bothered by the flames. Jinx was a chaotic psychopath who sincerely enjoyed destruction and devastation, she only wished that she had more weapons today, at this thought she pouted. She was not prepared for a full on confrontation with the police, but could not have helped herself after sighting both fat hands and hat lady walking down this very street. Jinx became bored and agitated very quickly whenever in hiding and the police in Piltover just didn't appreciate fun, or blowing stuff up. Sighing dreamily at the thought of explosions she imagined the whole city ablaze and her eyes glistened.

Coming back to reality from her daydream, she surveyed the chaos on the street below, smiling a big toothy grin at Vi, or where she had just been. There was no one down there, peering suspiciously over the side of the boutique, Jinx batted smoke out of her view and pouted at the empty street before whining "where have you gone?"

Her face screwed up in confusion and she begun to hum softly whilst swaying from side to side, hands gripping the edge of the cement roof. Fixated on the ground in front of her, she did not notice anything behind her until she felt a giant hand clasp on her shoulder. "Looks like you're under arrest" stated Vi confidently behind her "I hope you resist."

Jinx turned slowly to face the enforcer, trying to drop her shoulder to escape the hextech gauntlet placed there only for the already harsh grip to tighten. Jinx winced "Why are you hurting me fat hands?" whilst jutting out her bottom lip with her eyes glistening with tears. Vi was unmoved by her pitiful act and raised her eyebrow before bringing her face close to the other woman and whispering "because I need to keep you in place. NOW CAITLYN!" she shouted towards a neighbouring apartment building.

Jinx whirled around just in time to hear a familiar whirring noise she absolutely hated, searching for the cause she glimpsed a purple top hat hidden behind a long sniper rifle poking out of a window. "I hate hat lady, she's no fun" moaned Jinx stamping her feet in petulant rage. Anyone with common sense would have referred to the sheriff of Piltover as precisely that or her name Caitlyn, however both of the women on the rooftop preferred their own respective nicknames.

If asked to choose which were more agitating, hat lady or cupcake, it would have been a close call. The sheriff was now ready to unleash her long range attack and did so promptly, she watched the shot keenly and gave a satisfied smile when it landed in the right shoulder of Jinx, causing her to drop the 'zap' gun she had just pulled from behind. Though Caitlyn could not hear any conversation at all from the rooftop, she watched as her partner grabbed Jinx's hands and pulled them behind her back, preparing to place handcuffs on her. Vi quickly looked up at the brunette peering from the window and broke into a huge grin, she was laughing and gave a thumbs up with the gauntlet not preoccupied with holding Jinx.

Caitlyn smiled back, feeling considerably lightened by their capture of the blue haired psychopath who had menaced her city for far too long. She turned away from the window in order to leave the building and join Vi in escorting their quarry back to the station, the paperwork would be immense for the captured fugitive but oh how it would be satisfying.

She was torn from her reverie by an exceptionally loud groaning, running back to the window she was horrified to see that the ablaze boutique that her partner and Jinx were stood on was now collapsing. Vi was panicking, her eyes wide as the floor beneath her began to crumble, Jinx however thought this was the funniest thing that had happened all week, she was on the floor literally rolling around in laughter. Vi glanced back up at Caitlyn as the floor gave way beneath her.

"VI!" screamed Caitlyn, almost throwing herself out of the window as she watched untold tons of rubble and cement collapsing in on her partner. Tearing from the window, the sheriff sprinted through the hallways, most of the tenants were hiding within their flats, and had been doing so since Jinx had begun her attack on the two officers. Fortunately this now meant there were few obstacles between her and the collapsed building, Caitlyn stormed down the stairs, throwing doors open and launching herself down the stairs. 

Whilst Caitlyn was running through the building she fished her phone from her skirt and called the Piltover police department. The brunette was exhaling shakily until finally a voice began "Piltov-", "This is the sheriff, an officer is down. I repeat officer down, I need assistance at the corner of Zhom and Tidin right now!" Caitlyn shouted out of breath down the receiver, she ended the call and continued running until she burst through the fire exit.

Initially the bright autumn sun burnt her retinas and she was blinded, shielding her eyes as she sprinted over to the remains of the boutique, the sheriff was aghast to find it almost completely flattened. Caitlyn was stunned for a moment, it was difficult to believe that only a few moments ago she was getting ready to congratulate her partner on a job well done, her eyes began to mist and she clenched her jaw.

No, she stated internally, she would find Vi and then decide whether she wanted to weep like a child. Running over to the rubble Caitlyn threw herself to the ground and began lifting broken slabs of concrete, the fire that had pulled the building down left much of the twisted metal strewn amongst the rubble scolding to touch. Caitlyn did not even notice the high temperature or the burns appearing on her hands and fingers, her only focus was in reaching Vi and desperately hoping that she was okay.

Vi just had to be okay, she was so strong and stubborn, it was more likely for her to break a building than to be broken by one. Caitlyn continued moving chunks of cement, so intent on finding her partner that she did not even notice the back up arriving from the station. A strong hand grasped her shoulder and as she whirled around with her rifle, she locked eyes with Jayce.

"You should go and see the medic" he told her, his mouth was drawn into a grim tight line as he surveyed both the situation and the severe looking burns Caitlyn had acquired. The sheriff pretended not to have heard him and turned prior to resuming moving rubble, his voice gently interrupted her task "It was not a request Cait, please go and see the medic, we can take care of it now."

Remaining on her knees, Caitlyn closed her eyes attempting to compose herself, she was drained both physically and mentally, though it had only been a few moments since the collapse. She felt Jayce squatting next to her as he placed a hand on her arm and helped her up, she sighed breathlessly and squeezed his hand to show her appreciation.

The sheriff quickly scanned the area around her, most of the emergency services had answered her distress call, police officers and firemen intermingled in attempting to remove the wreckage that was once an up scale boutique. There were two waiting ambulances also and medical personnel rushed towards her once Jayce called them over, she allowed them to guide her into the ambulance.

Whilst receiving treatment for her burns, Caitlyn began berating herself internally for what had potentially befallen Vi. It was almost certain that the enforcer had to have taken some damage, even her thick head wasn't impervious to concrete. Caitlyn's face fell in the ambulance as she started to descend into guilt laden self pity, a thought came to her that stopped her from wallowing.

If their roles had been reversed and it was Caitlyn under the rubble, Vi would still be out there stubbornly searching for her, hauling obscene amounts of concrete and metal determined to find her. If it had been Vi out there when Jayce appeared she was certain that the enforcer would have sooner knocked him out than cease looking, the thought brought a subdued smile to Caitlyn's face.

Ignoring the sounds of protest from the medics she jogged over to where Jayce and the remainder of the police force stood, they were speaking in hushed tones when she arrived. "Have you found her yet?" she demanded, her tone remarkably clipped, as she stared at the other members of the group the atmosphere seemed to change almost immediately. "Have you found her yet?!" Caitlyn repeated, an edge of desperation in her voice, many of the police officers dropped their heads and refused to look her in the eye.

It couldn't be, no not like this, she wheeled around and ran towards the collapsed building "Vi!" she shouted into the autumn evening air, receiving no response. As she drew nearer it became apparent that the bulk of the rubble had already been lifted from where the boutique had once stood, she continued running, vaulting over mounds of broken cement.

She came to a standstill in the middle of a large clearing struggling to understand, she was stood where the building had only half an hour before and all the rubble had been cleared. "If you do not appear in front of me right now I swear Vi!" she shouted threateningly at the surrounding buildings, glaring at the windows and crossing her arms furiously. If this was some kind of ploy, similar to Vi hiding underneath the sheriff's desk to scare her then so help her, there would be a hextech gauntlet shoved so far that only that gelatinous green blob would be able to retrieve it.

She turned in the clearing, eyes darting across the surrounding area, positive that any moment now the pink haired enforcer would stroll out from behind a building and wink at her exclaiming 'miss me cupcake?' However the clearing remained empty and the only people in the vicinity were the emergency services assembled who were watching Caitlyn threaten the buildings hesitantly.

Comprehension dawned on her as she realised that not only was Vi missing but so was the dangerous psychopath she had been attempting to arrest. She turned to find the defender of tomorrow at her side, he glanced tersely at the surroundings, attempting to pull her in for a comforting embrace. Caitlyn pushed him away, her expression one of intense worry “something is wrong Jayce. I have to find her, Jinx is dangerous, what if something bad happens?” Jayce grimaced in response as the two locked eyes, Caitlyn's lips tightened into an unconscious snarl and her eyes narrowed, she would find her partner and she would bring Jinx to justice.

_____________________

Vi awoke around the same time Caitlyn had her breakdown in the clearing, she was roused from slumber by a repetitive tapping noise. "Five more minutes..." she mumbled sleepily to no one in particular, her head lolling back and a thin strand of drool dangling from her mouth. She began to moan angry gibberish when the noise did not subside and eventually cracked one of her eyes open in attempt to find the culprit.  
Squinting, she saw Jinx rocking back and forth on a stool, leering at her with an insane grin, as well as four chipped cups filled with a brown viscous matter atop a filthy table in between them. She closed her eye again, murmuring "No...don't like this dream.." and proceeded to drift off to sleep again, it was only when her nose began to itch and she attempted to raise her hand to scratch it, that she shot awake.  
Struggling to lift her hands and thrashing on the crate she was stuck upon, it became apparent that she was bound to something. Turning her head quickly to double check she was frustrated to see that not only were her hands tied together behind her back, but that they were also attached to a bar in the ventilation grate, with cable ties no less.

Excellent, she thought, turning from the sight of her bound hands she wound up staring once again at Jinx still rocking on her stool. "Hey wanna have some fun? I bet you would. Tea parties are fun, I read a book once, some girl had a tea party, there was a rabbit, there's a dead one over there I could get to join us. If he has a stopwatch I would just die ahahahhahaaha' squealed Jinx excitedly.  
The enforcer stared stupefied at the chaotic train of thought from the blue haired woman, who was grinning at her in a painful imitation of a smile. Vi quickly chanced some glances around the room she was located in, dismayed to find no distinctive features, it appeared to be an abandoned factory. This was promising, there were many of those in the Hebit district of Piltover which had once been home to much of the city's manufacturing industry prior to hextechs dominance.

Even though she had an idea of where the factory was located, her heart sank as she remembered the sheer number that remained in deteriorating conditions in the district, there had to be at least eight. It looked increasingly likely that Caitlyn wouldn't be able to help her out of this jam, she resigned herself to coping with the situation come what may until she had an opportunity to get the hell out of here.  
Squinting harshly, Vi finally paid attention to the severe headache she had acquired, wincing at the pain until Jinx smirked at her. "Oh sorry, I'm not sorry, I was bored so ZapZap made you sleepy time, now we can have fun!" she reeled off at high speed. Vi was becoming adept at understanding the crazy that came from her mouth, she gathered that after Vi had activated her blast shield to protect them from the debris of the collapsed building, Jinx had used her zapper gun to knock her out cold. As to why she had then been dragged to an abandoned factory where a creepy tea party seemed to be taking place, she had absolutely no clue.

"Would you like a drink, lady fat hands?" Jinx enquired in a falsetto parody of Caitlyn's accent, reaching over the stained table cloth and holding one of the cups towards Vi's face. The enforcer peeked into the cup and nearly gagged, she was almost certain that it was wet mud. She attempted to manoeuvre herself away from the grim offering though this was difficult considering she was bound in place.  
Jinx's eyes narrowed at the movement "Maybe pow pow would like some tea, or, or, a spot of punch in the face!" she giggled, both mocking and gesturing towards what Vi now understood were her weapons, fish bones and pow pow, on stools either side of her around the small table. The enforcers eyes locked on the weapons either side of her and as Jinx began to reach for one, she realised it was smarter to play along with whatever the hell was going on.

"Erm, actually I have had enough tea today" she stated hesitantly, keeping an eye on the woman across from her, when her eye began to twitch and her trigger finger began moving of its own accord Vi added "but thank you for the offer!" with a wide fake grin. Jinx relaxed immediately and smiled back "Was it so hard to be polite Violet?" she spoke gently, eyes unfocused. Unable to help herself Vi gasped audibly and stared dumbstruck into glazed red orbs "do you remember my name?" she demanded harshly.

This seemed to break the other woman out of her reverie and she turned to Vi with a smile "wanna burn this factory to the ground?" her eyes gleaming, Vi stared incredulous, it was almost as if Jinx hadn't heard a word she had just said. "How the fuck do you remember my name?" she repeated, her shout reverberating from the walls, her eyes remained furiously locked on Jinx, who replied with "you're fat hands, I know you from somewhere, maybe from before, gets a bit hazy up there" she motioned to her head and mimicked a gun pointing at her own temple.

_____________________

Meanwhile, only a few hundred metres away, Caitlyn crouched in the clearing, examining chunks of broken metal. She had set the emergency response personnel at the collapsed building to task, splitting them, half were organising a manhunt/search party for Jinx and Vi respectively. The other half were in charge of organising a strict civilian curfew, there could be no telling of the destruction that the criminal might cause and Caitlyn would have no more casualties today. She grimaced at the thought of Vi being a casualty and sincerely hoped with all the fibre in her being that the thick headed enforcer was safe and remained so until they could be reunited.  
The sheriff had sorely wanted to join the search for the missing women, but she just couldn't, something was amiss and her instinct told her that she needed to investigate further. "How is it that the two of them would even be able to walk after having a building collapse on top of them?..." she pondered to herself aloud, gripping her chin in her hand. Turning to stare at the apartment building she had been in only a few hours before, the sheriff frowned, turning again to face the now wide gap between the buildings that were once adjacent to the boutique.

She walked behind them into a disused alleyway, her nose crinkled in disgust glancing between the profanity laden graffiti and the litter covering much of the floor. Closing her eyes in order to fully concentrate, she recognised that their disappearance would have had to occur when she was sprinting down the stairwell in the apartment building. She just couldn't understand how they had done so, the brunette gripped the bridge of her nose with a loud groan, knowing that she was missing something frustrated her to no end.

Behind her, a rustling noise alerted her that she was no longer alone. Wheeling around quickly she raised her rifle to eye height and stared into large brown eyes, belonging to the man with the auspicious title of 'the defender of tomorrow'. "We have to stop meeting like this" he joked with a wide grin, eyes creasing with mirth, she rolled her eyes at him, he just could not help being charming.

Jayce had been at his laboratory for the better part of the day, working on upgrading his hammer with Professor Heimerdinger when he had heard the thunder of the collapsing building. Immediately his heroic instincts compelled him to check the situation was under control, only to find upon arrival the woman opposite him trying desperately to shift rubble.

Though they had been friends for quite some time, Jayce had always held a particular interest in Caitlyn that was not entirely platonic. He could not help himself, she was a striking woman with an intellect to match her looks, the problem he found was that she did not feel the same, or at least did not act in a way to imply any illicit feelings. He dropped subtle hints and was always incredibly polite and respectful, unlike a certain pink haired woman.

Though they were acquaintances it would be a stretch to refer to them as friends, he took issue with how...vulgar the enforcer could be, in particular how frequently she would flirt with Caitlyn. He thought the worst thing about the whole situation was that if anyone else spoke to her the same way that Vi did, they would receive a round to the face, he wondered how she managed to get away with it.

Coming out of his contemplation he realised the sheriff was staring at him impatiently, with her hands upon her hips. His vacant face caused her to sigh loudly and repeat "I asked whether you were making a habit of sneaking up on me." Jayce grinned in response, expecting one in return only to receive a wan imitation of a smile from the brunette deep in thought.

"I am missing something. Obviously they managed to escape the collapse, but how?" pondered Caitlyn, her eyebrows creasing in confusion, Jayce answered confidently "Vi has a shield doesn't she?" Caitlyn's eyes shot open, "Of course!" she cried, pressing her palm against her forehead "What an absolute idiot, of course she has a shield, for goodness sake Caitlyn!"

It was entirely possible that Vi had activated her blast shield to protect both herself and Jinx from the falling debris, after that her disappearance could have only meant that Jinx had subdued the enforcer somehow and had taken her hostage. Otherwise there would be clear signs of a fight, like a blood trail leading from the clearing or dismembered limbs. If Jinx had attempted to drag a potentially unconscious Vi somewhere it could not have been far from their location, those gauntlets definitely weighed a few kilograms.

This limited the range but unfortunately not the location she was being kept, there was plenty of dilapidated terraced housing, as well as abandoned factories. Caitlyn stared back at the clearing and recognised that the only way they could have gone was through the alleyway she now stood in, immediately she called back to the police department.

_____________________

"What do you mean by from before?" Vi queried hesitantly towards Jinx, who was by now tapping the beats to a nursery rhyme on her thighs, small as they were. Either she did not hear the enforcer or was just pretending that she hadn't but now she started to hum a different song still continuing with the rhythmic tapping of the nursery song.

Vi began to feel unnerved with the increasingly unhinged reactions of Jinx, resigning herself to looking around the factory once again, her eyes landed on a yellowing mattress and a broken television in one corner. It did not surprise her that people would use a place like this to squat and have a somewhat safe sleep, she had stayed in similar places when she was in Zaun, with her gang...with the woman across from her.

Glancing over to Jinx she was surprised to see large red eyes staring back at her, "Before Jinx lost her mind of course" replied the increasingly deranged woman referring to herself in the third person with a grin. "Places like these" she gestured to the surrounding factory walls "remind me of places with you, used to be friends didn't we?" Vi stared back at her listening carefully.

"Why didn't you play with us any more, things happened after you left, bad things. Had to go, Piltover's nice, glad you like it. Would be a shame if anything happened to it" Jinx finished with a wide grin, during her monologue she had sprung up and began to pace erratically, nearly running as she went.

Watching her carefully, Vi recognised that she was becoming excited about something, fairly common to see when they were summoned but not particularly dangerous on the rift, unless you happened to be on the enemy team. Out here however, in the reality of Piltover, it meant she was up to something, the enforcer would have put money on it being explosive. At Vi's lack of reaction to her threat, Jinx pouted once again, sighing "you're no fun!"

"I'd be a lot more fun if I wasn't tied to a fucking grate" Vi exclaimed feeling more confident, if Jinx had wanted to do something besides act insane she would have done it by now. "Maybe if you let me go, I won't break your face" she lied through gritted teeth, to which Jinx tapped her finger on her chin, pretending to be deep in thought and finally answered "nah, liar liar pants on fire."

Vi scowled at the other woman, who was now twirling in the room, dancing with her zapper gun in a bastardised tango for no particular reason. "What am I doing here then? Besides watching a lesson in insanity" she questioned Jinx, eager for an answer, she honestly had no idea what was going on. Jinx smiled at the gun she was still dancing with and whispered "Just waiting until later, fun things are going to happen" then she smiled at Vi and added "didn't want to be alone for the BOOM."

Incredulous, the enforcer stared at the dancing psychopath and narrowed her eyes "you need to leave Piltover alone" spoke Vi harshly, glaring furiously at the other woman, eyes ablaze "why don't you just go back to Zaun? Mess with the other lunatics there." To which Jinx turned to Vi and blew her a raspberry, stamping her feet petulantly, "Shan't" she stated crossing her arms "more stuff to blow up here."

"Even if I'm trapped here with you, Caitlyn will stop you. I know she will" stated Vi matter of factly, staring defiantly at Jinx. "I don't think so Mrs fat hands, unless Mrs hat lady can be in two places at once" giggled the blue haired woman, "oh it's going to be explosive!" squealed Jinx clapping her hands together excitedly. Vi flexed her arms trying once again to escape her bonds, unable to do so she growled and spat on the ground in anger.

Jinx seemed to freeze at the sound, halfway through a round of applause for herself, "Tsk Tsk, no manners. What would your mother say? Knock Knock, who's there, Vi's parents, Vi's parents who? Ahahhhhhhhhah" screaming Jinx fell to floor laughing and holding her stomach. Pleased with herself, she continued to laugh deliriously as Vi turned a dark shade of chartreuse.

Anyone sane would have fled from the bound enforcer, her face was contorted with rage, the veins bulged from her neck and she was writhing and growling. Attempting to escape from her bonds only served to drive the cable ties even deeper into her skin. Blood seeped from the restraints on her wrists but she could not get free, not without her gauntlets, which lay underneath the table between them.

Jinx leapt over to where Vi was thrashing and grabbed her face in her hands, lifting it only to find an indignant stare. "You love Piltover don't you? Lovelovelove it" Jinx whispered, their faces so close there were inches between them "do you love some of the people in progress land too? Close to hat lady are we?" At the mention of Caitlyn, Vi began to thrash again, attempting to remove the painful grip on her face only served to make it tighten.

Jinx brought their faces close again and smiled broadly at the bound woman "Hat lady and fat hands sitting in a tree" she sang mockingly before stopping suddenly and grinning once again. "Wanna know a secret?" she whispered to Vi, looking over both her shoulders to make sure nobody in the otherwise empty room was listening in "look down!" she shrieked. Vi did so only to see that the crate she was sat upon had words emblazoned across it 'CAWSHUN FUNWORKX – BOOM! :D'

Vi sighed "Of course its a box of explosives, why wouldn't it be?" she did her best to stay still so as not to set it off prematurely and looked at Jinx, a sour expression on her face. "So where is the other one?" she questioned "earlier you said the sheriff would need to be in two places at once" gesturing to the box she was sat upon she continued "so clearly you have another bomb."

Jinx pulled further from Vi and replied "Well well well, I know something you don't know, do-dah do-dah" singing the latter part, "maybe police, maybe hospital, maybe it's here too! Double explosion!" her hands opened mimicking a firework. "Maybe no bombs today, I can't remember" the blue haired woman shrugged, a confused look upon her face. The enforcer scowled and demanded "Why? What do you gain?" her eyes followed Jinx as she stood pretending to be thinking staring up at the remnants of the roof. "I want to!" Jinx responded with a manic smile "I like ruining stuff, blowing things up, shooting people in the face, I specially like doing that stuff here! Order is booooring."

Vi glowered, she opened her mouth to call Jinx every swear word she knew until a loud crashing noise came from the left hand side of the building. They both stared in the direction, Vi resumed her struggling, she would not let Jinx get the pleasure of blowing the both of them up. "I don't have all my guns" wailed Jinx stomping around with her head in her hands "I just want to make everyone go BOOM!" she ended with a pout.

"Oh well best be gone" Jinx giggled to herself collecting her weapons she turned to the growling enforcer and grinned "see ya never fat hands, say hi to hat lady for me" with that comment she waved at Vi and skipped over to the exit. "Fuck you Jinx!" the bound woman shouted after her "I liked you when you weren't completely batshit!" Her outburst only caused Jinx to halt halfway out of the exit door, where she turned towards Vi and blew her a kiss before the door slammed shut.

_____________________

Caitlyn stormed through the front door of yet another abandoned manufacturing plant, this one was in a particularly sorry state, most of the roof had collapsed and now lay in a mound on the floor. She signalled to the squad of police officers and special operatives behind her to hold for a moment, she pulled the magnifying glass down from her top hat in order to inspect something that was on the floor, it was a smiley face sticker.

"We need to be very careful" she whispered "if she is here, it is almost certainly a trap, so everyone be. on. your. guard." enunciating the last few words to drive the point home. Eyeing the room warily they proceeded inwards carefully, because of the truly insane nature of the criminal at large, literally anything was possible. For the better part of two hours the small groups had searched within a three mile radius of the collapsed building.

Three miles because Jinx would not have been able to drag Vi much further in the time frame and beyond the radius lay almost exclusively flat ground that would make hiding impossible. Jinx was not the sort to run away without causing a scene so she had to be within this area, with a grim determination Caitlyn continued on through the dilapidated building. She was becoming increasingly concerned that they had not found Vi or Jinx yet, it was only a matter of time, but she was fearful of the state she might discover the two in.

As they headed through the building paying close attention to their surroundings, the sheriff kept her rifle trained ahead of her, she was prepared to deal with their problem once and for all if that's what it took to get her partner back. Up ahead was a door, if one could call it that, the majority of the centre panel was eroded and it lay askew on one hinge within the door frame.

The end of her rifle poked through the hole in the door as she squatted low, the men behind her waited patiently as she peeked into the room. Initially she saw nothing, squinting she peered around the room until in the corner she saw a flash of vibrant pink. Her eyes widened and she signalled to the men behind her to prepare to engage, once they were ready her lips pressed into a tight line, she hoped this was Vi and that if it was, she was okay.

Barging into the room, operatives ran in different directions in order to check their surroundings to make sure the room was safe, fortunately "Clear!" resounded from every corner. Caitlyn ran in the direction she had seen the dash of pink and was met with a cry of "Back up! Don't come close, there's a bomb under me!" She froze in place at both the sound of Vi's voice and the statement it bellowed. "Where is Jinx?" she questioned in reply, only to hear "she left like ten minutes ago, did you not hear me? I said I have a bomb under my ass!"

"Call for a bomb disposal squad immediately" she ordered one of the officers with her who nodded and immediately set about task, Caitlyn then stated firmly "and stay alert." She walked further towards the sound of her partners voice, signalling the men with her to hold back for the time being. Eventually her eyes fell on a distant figure sat atop a crate with unruly pink hair, "Vi!" she called out, their eyes locked as Vi stared back at the brunette. "Hey cupcake, took you long enough" she spoke with a wide grin that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Miss me?" she finished with a wink.

Caitlyn shook her head in amazement at the other woman's relentless attempts to charm her and headed carefully towards her. Though Vi knew it was a hopeless cause to try and convince the stubborn sheriff to change her mind, she desperately tried to do so "turn around cupcake, please? come onnnnn" she whined, sagging against her restraints. If Vi survived this she was going to buy all the cable ties she could and set them on fire, dancing around their charred remains, the thought brought a subdued smile to her face.

"I don't want to lose you cupcake" Vi murmured softly, honesty written all over her face, as she pleaded with her eyes for the brunette to move away from her. Caitlyn stopped a few feet away from Vi, focusing hard on something and staring at the crate Vi was atop, after a few seconds she crossed her arms and smiled at Vi who gazed perplexed back. "Vi, what do bombs usually have that you can't hear right now?" Caitlyn questioned her partner with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

As the pink haired woman attempted to focus on the sounds within the room, her partner walked over and cut the restraints from her wrist with a flourish. Finally freed, Vi flexed her arms and rolled her wrists, wincing at the deep cuts she had attained earlier, Caitlyn turned over the crate she had been fixed upon only to find it empty with a crudely drawn ':P GOT YA!' underneath. "Oh for crying out loud!" Vi cursed kicking the empty crate and scowled at the exit that Jinx had long left through, convinced that the escaped woman was trying to drive her insane too.

Turning back to Caitlyn, who stood with her hands on her hips and a relieved smile on her face, Vi felt incredibly embarrassed and rubbed a hand on the back of her neck, the other was upturned in an apologetic gesture, "Sorry cupca-" she was cut off by Caitlyn throwing herself into her arms. As she felt the sheriff's arms link behind her head, Vi responded by placing hers on the waist of the brunette, "I don't want to lose you either" whispered Caitlyn into the enforcers ear as their bodies pressed close to one another. Vi felt warmth spreading across her entire body in response to the close contact, she felt it pooling in one particular area and desperately tried not to react.

Suddenly a round of explosions occurred in the sky above them, they sprung apart and the two women stared at one another. "Jinx had another bomb!" cried Vi "she must have been trying to trick us!", to which Caitlyn swore and hefted her rifle in response, they would catch her, she only hoped that the destruction was manageable. Vi had ran off to grab her gauntlets, placing them on with a satisfied smile and began shadow boxing the air. Turning to order the operatives with her to get going, Caitlyn was surprised to find most of them staring into the sky through the missing roof and smiling.

Aghast she stared up with them only to see fireworks streaking across the sky, one of the operatives with her whispered to another "Damn, I was worried I might miss it." Realisation hit her full force, it was the beginning of snowdown, annually celebrated in Piltover with a dazzling array of fireworks. Still staring at the spectacle, she felt an arm spread across her shoulders, turning to her left, she found it of course belonged to the enforcer.

"I have no idea what the hell happened today" Vi began with a confused look upon her face "Jinx tried to have a tea party with me and-" she cut herself short at this, Caitlyn did not need to know about any of her past, not yet at least. "She told me there was a bomb beneath me and another one elsewhere, no idea why" she pondered aloud, gripping Caitlyn's shoulder with her hand gently.

"Perhaps" began the sheriff, turning to look at Vi "she has enough enjoyment out of the festivities this evening to give us a welcome reprieve." Vi turned to look up at a particularly loud firework and as Caitlyn watched her partners eyes sparkle and her smile spread and become radiant, she couldn't help but feel a lurch in her chest. 'How odd' she thought, turning her face up to the sky and gazing at the display.

Vi was thoroughly enjoying the explosions, safe explosions that she was not part of, but what she enjoyed more was that she was currently stood there looking at them with her arm around Caitlyn's shoulders. Continuing to stare up into the sky, she nudged Caitlyn softly with her shoulder and questioned playfully "Not bad for our first date eh cupcake?" To which the aforementioned cupcake gave an exaggerated sigh and stated "you are insufferable" with a roll of her eyes, Vi was pleased to note however that Caitlyn did not remove her arm and instead leaned against her closer.

Content to enjoy a moments peace, the both of them stared at the display until the sheriff became all business again. "Right, Jinx can't have gotten too far" she stated to Vi before pulling away and turning to the operatives, "call in the other groups and get them to rendezvous at this location. We can split from here and search, it is likely that she is distracted by the fireworks and enjoying the explosions. Lets see whether we can use the element of surprise."

With the officers at task, Caitlyn turned to Vi only to find a wide smirk on her face, the enforcer leaned in and whispered into her ear "I love it when you talk business." Caitlyn batted her away and shook her head, a slight blush appearing on her cheek "For goodness sake, maybe when we find Jinx I can see whether she wants to take you back" she cried with mock seriousness.

Vi's face fell and she attempted her patented puppy dog eyes, lip quivering she murmured "do you really mean that cupcake?" Vi was not playing fair. She knew Caitlyn could not resist those eyes, the brunette sighed loudly and narrowed her eyes at Vi, exclaiming "If I say I don't mean it, will you focus on the task at hand instead of attempting to flirt?" A lone chuckle rose from the group of operatives, Caitlyn wheeled around to face them and raised an eyebrow, her expression was deadly, "why don't you wait outside for the other groups, hmm?" she demanded haughtily.

Once the room had been cleared apart from the two women, Caitlyn sighed once again and crossed her arms, glaring at Vi. "Look Vi, I know that we are partners and I allow you more than enough wiggle room in regards to your questionable behaviours. However I need to ask you not to speak to me that way in front of other officers, I need you to treat me with respect." Vi gazed back at Caitlyn, she had no idea how much she had offended the sheriff and replied with a short "Fuck 'em."

At Caitlyn's exasperated expression, Vi continued "No seriously fuck them. I am who I am, I can't help that. I flirt constantly, I'm rough around the edges and I really enjoy punching things. I do respect you Caitlyn, you gave me this chance and now I have a purpose. I just, it's weird having friends ya'know, I don't really know how else to speak to you, or anyone really." Vi had begun to pace during her statement and her face bore a stressed expression, she turned then to face Caitlyn and tried an apologetic smile before her eyes dropped to the floor. 

The brunette had been stood with her arms crossed, upon realising just how honest her partner was being, she walked over to Vi and placed her hand upon her shoulder, entreating her to look up. "I am sorry for being so harsh Vi, I just, respect is a big thing for me. I don't want you to change who you are, I would just like you to be a bit more professional when we are working."

Vi turned towards the sheriff and grinned "Okay, I think I can do that. I will be more professional at work, out of work however" at this she wiggled her eyebrows, Caitlyn rolled her eyes once again and cut her off "out of work, I have no control over your behaviour, you are free to do as you please, within reason of course." A smirk arose on Vi's face and her eyes gleamed as she queried "does that mean I can charm you all I like?" to which Caitlyn smirked herself and chuckled "it means you are free to try."

"Sheriff, Jayce and the other operatives are here" interjected one of Caitlyn's officers at the door, interrupting their defiant staring contest, "thank you, we will be right out" stated Caitlyn politely, still staring at her partner whose face had dropped at the name Jayce. "Not that drip, please don't make me work with him, he's such a goodie goodie" pleaded Vi, she fell to her knees, mechanical hands clasped together in front of her in mock prayer.

"Vi you are such an actress I swear, besides Jayce is a nice person, I'm sure you will behave yourself this evening working alongside him" Caitlyn spoke assuredly, arms crossed and her eyes narrowed, threatening Vi to behave any other way. The enforcer remained on her knees, contemplating the warning until she spoke "fine, I will behave myself around that drip" Caitlyn's eyes narrowed at the derogatory nickname, Vi pretended not to notice and continued "on one condition." The brunette raised both her eyebrows and waited for the condition, "I get to take you out for a drink later?" finished Vi with a cheeky grin.

The sheriff did not react in any way but to raise one of her eyebrows incredulously, Vi's eyes glistened and she brought her hands back up to mimic prayer, entreating any gods that existed to get the woman across from her to agree. Finally Caitlyn grinned "I could certainly use a drink after today", Vi pumped her gauntlet upwards and flew into the air following it shouting “yes!”

"First we have to find Jinx" reminded Caitlyn, who couldn't help laughing at the exaggerated theatrics of her partner, Vi punched one of her gauntlets into the other which was held open, a beaming smile lay on her face, she ran towards the door and shouted over her shoulder "then let's go catch us a crazy, cupcake!" Caitlyn chuckled at the comment and headed towards the pink haired woman waiting in the doorway with a grin, exclaiming "yes let's."


	4. Charmed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love is in the air, unfortunately for the sheriff of Piltover, who just wants to finish her paperwork.

Closing her eyes in order to concentrate on not murdering the pink haired buffoon next to her, Caitlyn supposed that her current spate of troubles had occurred following their last match on the rift. It had been a resounding victory, as was often the case when Piltover's finest found themselves on the same team, however, her partners behaviour had became increasingly strange following the fall of the enemy nexus. Truth be told, Vi was acting like a woman obsessed, and it was bothering Caitlyn, who scowled at the thought and bit into her cupcake with unwarranted viciousness.

"Don't you think she's just so beautiful?" sighed Vi dreamily, staring unfocused into the sky, to which Caitlyn responded by scoffing and continuing to drink her tea. They were sat in the Piltover park, a place they often frequented considering it lay only a short walk from the police station. Sat on a bench, the two made a strange sight, Vi with her mechanical gauntlets pressed against her cheeks, elbows resting on her knees with a vacant smile on her face. Juxtaposed against her partners relaxed and dreamy posture, Caitlyn was sat with her back straight and her legs crossed tightly, clenching her tea cup so fiercely that her knuckles were white.

Vi sighed once again, a wide smile on her face, it appeared as if she was unaware of anything around her, so focused on whatever she was fantasising about, "really though, she is so amazing, I wonder if she knows who I am?" pondered the enforcer. The woman next to her gritted her teeth and stated scathingly "you spent the better part of our match smashing her face into the ground, I am positive she knows who you are." Vi looked up startled "oh Caitlyn when did you get here?" she was blissfully unaware of the ablaze brown eyes that had locked furiously onto her face at that comment, instead placing her gauntlets behind her head deep in thought.

The sheriff stared flabbergasted at the woman next to her, eyes narrowed in disbelief at the nonchalant manner in which Vi had disregarded her very presence. "Are you quite finished yet?" began Caitlyn in a dangerously low voice "we are supposed to be enjoying a pleasant lunch break together after a very busy morning prior to finishing the paperwork awaiting in the office. I dare say I am sick of speaking about her." Looking as if she had been electrocuted, Vi jumped up and wheeled on the now visibly shocked brunette "you're right, I should go to her" at this she patted Caitlyn on the shoulder and smiled broadly "thanks Caitlyn" before she ran sprinting from the bench.

"I didn't say anything remotely like that!" screamed the sheriff, who had stood up from the bench and stared after the enforcer with her hands on her hips. Watching perplexed as Vi tripped over a lone branch before leaping into the air ecstatic, Caitlyn sighed and grabbed her face in her hands. With her partner acting this completely insane there was no way she could leave her unattended, especially considering Vi had only just completed her probationary period on the force. A small growl escaped her and she quickly shouted "Vi, get back here right now!" when this had no reaction from the fool, who was by now running past a water fountain, she begrudgingly added "I promise to help you!" Vi appeared by her side as if by magic, a huge grin on her face before gleefully exclaiming "I knew you'd be there for me Cait."

Though Caitlyn would never have admitted it, she was slightly annoyed by the fact that Vi was using her real name and had been doing so since they had returned from the rift. Not that she enjoyed being called cupcake of course but it was irksome, and further proof that clearly something was wrong with her partner. "So what's the plan?" questioned Vi excitably, almost bouncing on the spot, to which the sheriff responded "follow me." Caitlyn stormed away from the park, seething internally, Vi followed giddily with a glazed look in her eyes.

___________________

"You lied to me!" cried Vi indignantly as the two of them arrived at the police station, the sheriff pretended not to notice her partners outburst and simply grabbed Vi's arm before pulling her through the front doors. "Why'd you lie to me? The love of my life is waiting for me" at this Vi gazed longingly out of the doors, Caitlyn jerked her towards the elevators a severe expression on her face. As they ascended in the elevator, Vi turned to the frustrated sheriff and pouted, before murmuring "I thought you said you'd help me", Caitlyn knew better than to look at the enforcer and her puppy dog eyes and continued staring straight ahead.

Once the doors opened onto the main office Caitlyn continued dragging Vi, storming past the cubicles, there was a wolf whistle and a call of "uh-oh someone's in trouble" that she chose to ignore for the time being at least. When they had entered the sheriff's office, Caitlyn locked the door and pulled the blinds down on the windows, ensuring privacy before facing the other woman with her arms crossed. "Vi, what on earth is wrong with you?" the brunette nearly screamed, throwing her arms up in the air and pacing before crying "void take me now, I have no clue what is happening, now tell me, why are you obsessed with Ahri!?"

At the mention of the nine-tailed fox's name, a huge smile erupted on Vi's face and she sighed "isn't she wonderful" before placing her hand over her heart and continuing "why wouldn't I fall for her?" The sheriff was aghast at the sickening reactions of her partner, if this was truly what Vi was like in love then void help her, she stormed over to Vi before grabbing her collar and bringing their faces close. "You are hopeless" she snarled at the still dreamily vacant woman before exclaiming "we have a sheer mountain of paperwork to finish as per our bloody jobs! Snap out of it!"

"Caitlyn please don't be jealous, you should be happy for me and Ahri" spoke the enforcer defiantly, crossing her arms and turning to face the locked door. This meant she did not see the aforementioned woman turn a dark shade of red, before furiously storming over to her cabinet and taking out a bottle of Freljord Ironspike vodka. Slamming it onto the table, Caitlyn pulled out a shot glass from her draw and filled the thing, she downed it in one gulp before refilling and consuming another. Caitlyn did not even know it was possible to be this angry, she could feel her entire body burning with rage and indignation as she stood facing Vi with her arms leaning on her desk.

"I am not jealous" she exclaimed furiously, enunciating every word to drive the point home, Vi did not even turn before refuting "are too." Caitlyn was sure that one of her blood vessels had just popped, as the veins stood out in her neck and her face bore a terrifying rictus, surely Vi had not always been this infuriating. When all Vi heard was a sputtering noise in response to her childish comment, she looked over her shoulder at the sheriff before sorely wishing she hadn't.

Suddenly Vi was turned against her will and pressed with her back against the door by the much smaller woman, who seemed to be overtaken by complete rage. Caitlyn was forcing her gauntlets above her head and brought her own face inches from Vi's, this close the enforcer was able to smell the faint alcohol on her breath. "I am not jealous Vi. I am concerned about my partner!" she whispered harshly, though she knew that Vi could break free with her strength if not her gauntlets, it appeared the enforcer was shocked by the abruptness of her assault.

Eyes wide, Vi regarded the enraged brunette before her warily, all she had wanted to do was to be with her beloved, the enchanting fox, and now she was being harassed by her boss. Deep down she knew that Caitlyn was looking out for her, but something was muddled in her brain and all she wanted was to find Ahri and be with her. When a dazed smile spread across Vi's face once again, Caitlyn pressed their foreheads against one another and groaned loudly.

Pulling away from her clearly mentally damaged friend, she stormed over to her office phone and hurriedly dialled a number that might just be able to save her sanity. As the phone was ringing, she glanced over at the woman slumped to the ground with a silly grin on her face "honestly!" Caitlyn shouted over at Vi, who did not react at all. After what seemed an age, a chipper voice answered finally on the line with "salutations sheriff!" Caitlyn stared at her partner again before stating in all seriousness, "Professor I need help, something is wrong with Vi. I think she might be broken."

___________________

"Hmm...as far as I can deduce, the reactions of your friend are attributed to one particularly heinous cause" narrated the revered inventor as he examined Vi, who was strapped, wide eyed, into a large chair with sadistic looking wrist restraints. Heimerdinger pulled his goggles above his eyes and sighed loudly, before staring up into Vi's vacantly beaming face and shaking his head sorrowfully. Caitlyn was beside herself, having waited an already excruciating length of time during her walk to the professors laboratory, if by walk, one meant dragging a reluctant Vi along the busy streets.

When all the professor did was look at Caitlyn and sigh sorrowfully once again, shaking his head, she almost screamed at the infuriating yordle. "What's the matter with her?" she exclaimed fearfully, glancing between the serious face of Heimerdinger with his brows furrowed and Vi's stupefied grin that had once again crept upon her face. "I'm afraid that she is in a dire situation" the inventor began almost lecturing, noticing that the sheriff was gritting her teeth and about ready to shoot him in the face, he hurriedly added "the results were inconclusive, but it would appear that your partner is infatuated."

Caitlyn stared open mouthed at the mustachioed yordle's conclusion, before stating indignantly "well obviously" and gesturing over to the pink haired woman sat vacantly surveying the two of them. She continued with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow "my question to you is what on earth has brought it on, she certainly wasn't like this this morning." Vi raised her voice to interject "Um, I am sat right here you know, I can totally hear you", Caitlyn shushed the indignant enforcer and waved the comment away.

"From what I've observed, infatuation can occur almost immediately, I believe the term is love at first sight?" Heimerdinger responded, he was prodding Vi's mid section with a wrench, which earned him a loud "hey get off me!" and a frosty glare from the enforcer. Though Vi respected the intelligent yordle in Piltover for his hextechnical prowess, a rather loud part of her always cried for vengeance at all of the failed ganks he had caused her to participate in when they were summoned on opposing teams.

Narrowing her eyes, the sheriff spoke in a threateningly low voice "I am quite positive that is not the case professor", the small creature shrugged and wiggled his rather large eyebrows in response to her icy tone. "I don't know quite what you want me to suggest sheriff, I have ran the necessary tests and there is nothing physiologically wrong with your friend here. For all intents and purposes it would appear that she is simply enamoured with someone quite special." Heimerdinger spoke cheerily and meandered over towards Vi in order to release the wrist restraints during his monologue, much to Caitlyn's chagrin.

Vi almost jumped from the chair and immediately began to place her gauntlets back on with a grin. The revered inventor smiled up at the much taller woman and enquired jovially "so who is the lovely young lady that has so captured your attention?" A wide grin broke upon Vi's face and her eyes narrowed in triumph as she grabbed Heimerdinger's shoulders and shook him excitedly whilst exclaiming "she is gorgeous Heimer, her eyes are like the perfect shade of orange and she's so fierce ya'know."

Caitlyn was now thoroughly irritated, she could not believe that this was normal behaviour for her partner. Nor was she content to just accept that Vi had fallen for 'someone special' in Ahri, the two of them barely knew each other, only meeting occasionally on the rift. Unless Vi had been lying about her whereabouts and meeting in private than the sheriff really could not fathom how her partner had become so charmed by the nine tailed fox. What bothered her most of all was that the whole situation was really making her quite jealous, though she would certainly not have admitted that to the one meter tall professor. Glancing at the shaken yordle, currently still being man handled by Vi as she continued her speech on the virtues of Ahri, she caught his eyes and was almost certain from the knowing look he gave that he knew anyway.

'Thanks for giving me the all clear pops' stated Vi happily before stage whispering behind her hand 'I think Cait is a just a wee bit jealous' and pointing a finger towards her fuming partner stood with arms crossed. Perking up the tanky enforcer bound over to the door and quickly waved before disappearing through it with an echoing 'wish me luck!' 'Wait Vi!...' Caitlyn attempted to call after her, recognising it to be futile she shook her head and stared angrily at a speck of dirt on the otherwise clean laboratory floor. That was almost certainly Vi, that frustrating woman had no care for cleanliness or even basic manners, she just had no concern for other people, least of all herself, imagine not telling your best friend that you had fallen for some woman you didn't even know very well.

"Are you quite alright sheriff?" queried an unsure voice, tearing Caitlyn from her internal grumbling. She turned towards the professor, who was staring at her with what she assumed was a sympathetic gaze, had his goggles not been obscuring the vast majority of his face. Sighing she stated "yes, I am fine, thank you. I have a lot of paperwork to finish at the station, just not particularly excited about the prospect" she proceeded to take her rather large hat off and run her fingers through her hair, sighing loudly before pacing. "Especially not with Vi running off on some mad crusade to tell Ahri how she apparently adores her" began Caitlyn with a sour tone, narrowing her eyes and continuing "so basically my partner has lost what little mind she did have and now I'm doing double the work. Again."

"Hold on! What was that you said a moment ago?" shouted Heimerdinger hurriedly, waddling over at speed to the sheriff, who glanced at him surprised. "I'm doing double the work...?" she reiterated hesitantly, staring questioningly at the wide eyed yordle, who shook his head violently in response. "No prior to that statement, did you say Ahri?" questioned the professor whose voice had risen an octave higher than usual and a look of sheer panic had seized his face. Caitlyn stared back in confusion and nodded, to which Heimerdinger shook his head once more and grasped his hair fearfully before crying "oh blast! No this isn't good."

The sheriff gripped his shoulders in order to still him and brought her face down to his before asking "what isn't good?" The professor closed his eyes in an attempt to concentrate and queried "are you familiar with Ahri?" at Caitlyn's shake of her head he continued whilst pacing "I have been matched against her many times, back when I was a 'viable' champion, I'm still viable just so you know, I just don't seem to be summoned as frequently as I once was...anyway" he shook the thought away. Then began wagging his finger at the air and spoke again "one of her strongest spells is a 'charm' and using it causes an opponent to move towards her heedless of threat, usually at great cost to the charmed individual."

The sheriff paused in order to digest this new information and met it initially with a smug grin, of course Vi's affections had been caused by magic, she had known something was wrong. Processing the thought however she bore a confused stare "but wait..." she pondered "isn't that only possible on summoner's rift? Surely the charm shouldn't last beyond the match?..." Heimerdinger nodded furiously and replied "Yes it shouldn't, but if it has it would certainly explain a lot, magic doesn't leave a residue in a lot of cases so it is very hard to check for."

Caitlyn chewed her lip, eyebrows furrowed with worry as she contemplated her next move, clearly Vi was possessed by some strong magic and would be sure to seek out Ahri, hopefully they could find her first before she made an even bigger fool out of herself. Turning to the tiny professor she asked with a grin, "fancy a trip to the institute of war, professor?" to which the rather furry yordle smiled and nodded in response.

___________________

It was particularly obvious to Caitlyn that Vi was here, or had been at least, there were flower beds torn from their roots, evidenced by the rapidly decaying rose corpses littered across the pavement. Not only that but the confectionery shop, primarily for sweet toothed yordles, was missing a decent chunk of one of their walls, surveying the situation Caitlyn shook her head and sighed loudly. "Not one for subtlety is she?" joked the professor, who chuckled at the sight of a shop keeper poking their head through the hole in the wall absolutely confused.

The sheriff stormed into the summoner's institute, arriving in the main foyer where the cheery receptionist greeted all who entered. Caitlyn had never minded Jocelyn, finding her a touch vacant and bimboesque, that is until she had came to the institute with Vi. Narrowing her eyes at the memory, she remembered how Vi had fawned over the blonde giggling receptionist, cracking out her best charming grin and flexing her arms. The pink haired enforcer could be such a lech, honestly.

"Good afternoon sheriff, professor" she smiled amicably at the two, albeit aware of Caitlyn's tense posture and enquired "can I help you?" Getting straight to the point, Caitlyn placed both her hands on the welcome desk and leaned over the beaming receptionist, a perfect imitation of her interrogation technique. "Have you seen Vi at all?" she questioned, her voice clipped, Jocelyn raised an eyebrow at the tone and responded airily "Maybe...why? is she in trouble?" The sheriff bristled internally but smiled politely before stating through gritted teeth "no, I would just like to know whether you have seen my partner."

Heimerdinger observed the strained exchange with curiosity, glancing between the two women as they faced one another with clearly fake smiles. He had just opened his mouth to remind Caitlyn that time was short when a high pitched giggle he was all too familiar with suddenly interrupted his thought process. All three turned in the direction of the giggle only to find Vi and Ahri walking through a set of doors leading from the residential quarters. Vi was positively beaming, walking with a grin on her face alongside the enchanting fox, who covered her mouth with her hands and continued giggling at whatever had been previously said.

How dare she? Thought Caitlyn fiercely, not only had Ahri enchanted Vi to fall for her, for goodness knows what reason, but now she saw fit to flaunt her around the institute like a love sick puppy. Her teeth ground together as her hands balled up into fists before she stormed over to the two of them, just as she was about to call Ahri every name under the sun however, the aforementioned woman turned to face Caitlyn with a grin.

"Hello...Caitlyn, is it?" queried Ahri with a charming smile and wide eyes, the sheriff narrowed her own dark eyes into slits and replied with a tense question of her own "yes it is. Could you perhaps tell me why you have charmed my friend here into acting like a complete lovesick fool?" Ahri's tails swished hesitantly though her smile remained fixed, she regarded the very frustrated sheriff with a cool stare however her eyes were crinkled with mirth.

Vi barged in between the two women, staring angrily at Caitlyn and crossing her arms before exclaiming "come on now, there is enough of me for the both of you." She glanced threateningly between the two women until her face broke into a huge grin, leaning in to whisper into Caitlyn's ear "I'm not charmed any more cupcake, back to my usual charming self." The sheriff turned her face quickly towards Vi's out of shock, to both the statement and the use of her nickname once again, only to feel the enforcer's nose pressed against her own.

She had not been aware of just how close Vi was to her when she turned suddenly, silence was truly deafening, all Caitlyn could hear was the thudding of her heart as its pace quickened and the rush of blood that accompanied a not unwelcome burning sensation throughout her body. She found herself unable to move or even summon a coherent thought as her brain went into meltdown, amber met azure as their eyes locked. Vi wondered how to react as her quite attractive partner was suddenly mere inches away and it appeared as if the sheriff had frozen with her mouth agape. The enforcer's eyes widened as she was almost positive that Caitlyn was bringing her face even closer if that were possible, soon she would be close enough that their lips would certainly have to-

"Ahem" a dainty cough intruded upon their momentary silence, leading Caitlyn to recoil hurriedly away from the stupefied enforcer, a fervent blush spreading across her cheeks. "Vi came to me earlier with chocolates and roses, which was a very sweet gesture on her part" Ahri favoured Vi with a smile while continuing her monologue, Vi for her part was still a little shell shocked from the close encounter but gave a shy smile in response. "I was surprised by the romantic gesture, even more so because I did not charm her."

The sheriff made an indignant sound of protest to which Ahri continued speaking "I didn't charm her, but it was my charm. Which I thought was rather strange, I spoke to the summoner's and it transpires that it was somewhat of a glitch. Just before our nexus fell this morning, I used my charm on Vi in an attempt to stop her from killing our jungler once again and it was still active when the match ended."

"Well then, how did you manage to remove the curse?" enquired the long forgotten yordle within the group, who glared at Ahri suspiciously, she turned to him with her tails bristling and replied coldly "I wasn't aware that being charmed by me was a curse, professor." Heimerdinger chose to ignore the way she had spat out his title as if it were an insult and stated matter of factly "having your self control removed and being controlled like a puppet is indeed a curse, one you are quite proficient in casting."

The sheriff watched anxiously as electricity seemed to crackle around the nine tailed fox, whose mouth had contorted into a snarl and orbs of energy appeared in her hands. Heimerdinger stood unfazed by the anger he had unleashed and remained still, pausing only to place a small turret on the ground. A strained silence followed as the two stood facing one another until finally a chuckle escaped the yordle "oh but I do loathe your charm, it's so frustrating in match ups." Ahri responded by staring incredulously at him before dissipating her orbs and laughing at the comment, replying "not nearly as frustrating as your turrets."

Piltover's finest watched as the two began bickering amicably, before Ahri seemed to remember his earlier question and answered with a sly shrug "I don't know how they managed to remove the charm, it would appear they have though." With that comment, the half fox winked at Caitlyn knowingly and giggled at the affronted glare she received from the brunette. "Would you like to discuss tactics? We could also get something to eat?" posed the bespectacled yordle to a genuinely surprised Ahri, who raised an eyebrow at him before replying with a smile "why not?"

Heimerdinger nodded at her response and began to meander towards the cafeteria, Caitlyn called a genuine "thank you for helping professor" after him, and he turned around beaming. The nine tailed fox coyly glanced at the sheriff before leaning in to peck Vi on the cheek and murmuring "thank you for the gifts." Ahri then strode towards the waiting yordle and they began conversing at great length about the changing role of mages. Vi was somewhat stunned by the kiss and stared after the enchantress, which meant she did not observe the thunderous expression on Caitlyn's face, nor the icy stare that followed Ahri as she left the room.

The enforcer rubbed the back of her neck unconsciously, as she often did when she felt embarrassed and shrugged apologetically at Caitlyn, who smiled at the familiar gesture. "Sorry cupcake, guess I haven't really been myself, can't say it's my fault though" Vi stated grinning at the brunette, who grinned back replying "I'm just glad you are back to normal, you were at least five times more frustrating than you usually are." Vi placed a giant gauntlet over her heart and threw her head back exclaiming "ow cupcake, ow", she cracked one eye open and peeked a glance at the sheriff who stood with her arms crossed.

When all Caitlyn did was raise an eyebrow at her theatrics and tease "don't worry, I've got something special in the office for you", the pink haired woman pouted prior to exclaiming "I've been under a spell all day, please don't make me do paperwork!" Vi dropped to her knees and begun pleading with her gauntlets raised in mock prayer, fast becoming a staple move of hers in order to get out of something.

The sheriff couldn't help the smirk that broke onto her face, she leaned in towards Vi and whispered into her ear "who said anything about paperwork" before pulling away and striding towards the entrance. A satisfied smile erupted as she heard the scramble of Vi jumping to her feet and running after her calling out "hey it's not the fuzzy cuffs is it?" Caitlyn turned to face her, noting smugly that Jocelyn was watching from the reception desk with a scowl and replied "I suppose you will just have to find out won't you?" finishing the statement with a wink.


	5. Black Pearl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the start of Snowdown, rum is not the drink of choice for Caitlyn and Vi catches feelings.

The office was silent except for the frenzied scratching that was the sheriff attempting to finish her latest lieu of paperwork, preferably before they closed up shop for the week. Due to Piltover's unusually low crime rate, it was possible for the police department to run on a skeleton crew over the festive period. Caitlyn was hunched over, almost pressing her nose to the desk in front of her, her eyes narrowed in triumph as she completed the last sheet letting out a satisfied sigh. Placing an errant strand of hair behind her ear, she chewed her lip and smiled widely, she loved this time of year, and had booked the time off months ago. Fortunately she had done the same for Vi, otherwise she dared say the pink haired enforcer would have been working without her, up to her knees in deep snow.

Caitlyn glanced up from the desk for what felt like the first time in hours, only to find her partner sat with gauntlets placed behind her head staring out of the large window that made up one of the walls in the office. The sheriff crinkled her nose in distaste as she noted that Vi had her feet on top of her desk, honestly it must have been the seventh time this week she had asked her not to put her feet all over the desk. Opening her mouth in order to give the enforcer a piece of her mind, she caught the melancholy look on Vi's face and ceased immediately. Vi was staring out of the window with her eyebrows furrowed in what looked like worry, not only that but her mouth was drawn into a tight line with her jaw clenched.

"Are you quite alright?" queried the sheriff hesitantly, a worried frown affixed onto her face as she regarded her obviously troubled friend. Vi's expression lifted immediately in response to the question and her posture relaxed instantly, before she turned grinning at the brunette. "Yeah no worries, just excited to spend some time to myself" spoke the enforcer hurriedly, "oh really?" replied Caitlyn who raised an eyebrow at the strange behaviour change, noting it for future reference. "Yeah I mean, I need to catch up with the guys at the pub, then I've really gotta hit the gym with Kata otherwise I'll wake up with a knife pressed against my throat and I really need my beauty sleep."

Narrowing her eyes at the description of the noxian assassin just appearing in Vi's room, Caitlyn sniffed daintily as a show of disdain. She had never particularly liked Katarina, either on the rift or out of it, finding her to be uncouth, brash and prone to violence. Of course the same things could easily be said about Vi, indeed she had heard harsher statements about the enforcer from some of the Piltover aristocracy, including many of the statesmen who frequently visited her parents manor. Clenching her jaw at the memory of the last function she had attended at the Buxton estate, she was interrupted by a chuckle and a statement of "sorry, forgot you don't like Katarina, she offends your 'sensibilities.'"

The last word had been uttered by Vi in a nasal parody of the uptown accent, at which the sheriff turned to her with a furious stare. "That is not the case and you know it, I just find her to be a bad influence on you" stated Caitlyn haughtily, crossing her arms defiantly at the now grinning enforcer. Vi finally brought her feet down from the desk with a loud thump and smashed her gauntlets onto the desk, smirking she stated "jealousy looks good on you cupcake" and finishing with a wink. The aforementioned cupcake rolled her eyes at the comment and harrumphed indignantly, before changing the subject far from issues of jealousy.

"So have you got any plans for snowdown solstice day?" questioned Caitlyn amicably, ignoring the way Vi's grin had grew even larger at the change in conversation. "Eh, I'm booked solid, first I'm gonna sleep in until five, then I'm going to head over to the Blue Flame" replied the enforcer with a casual stretch, placing her hands back behind her head, apparently very relaxed about the thought of drinking all day at the Bilgewater pub located in the seediest district in Piltover. Caitlyn giggled at the statement, her eyes creasing with mirth, until she caught the confused expression on Vi's face. They stared at one another for a few tense seconds until the sheriff pondered "wait, you're not serious are you?"

The idea that Vi would be spending her solstice day either drunk or asleep was deeply offensive, snowdown was Caitlyn's favourite holiday and it was for spending time with those you love. She eyed the enforcer, whose face had fallen following her remark, and felt a pang deep within her chest as she recognised that possibly Vi didn't have anything better to do on the day or even anyone to spend it with. Caitlyn felt her eyebrows furrow of their own accord as she stared at the forlorn looking woman, who was now scowling at the sheriff's expression. "I don't need your pity" Vi spat out angrily, she pushed heavily from the desk, sending her chair smashing into the wall, then stormed towards the door and paused only to murmur "happy holidays cupcake" before punching it open and disappearing through it.

Caitlyn stared aghast at the door now swinging on one hinge and the enraged woman who had just stormed through it. She was shocked by the behaviour of her partner and deeply concerned as to what had caused it, though Vi was prone to aggression, it had never been directed towards herself. The sheriff grasped her head in her hands and sighed loudly, she knew that she had really hurt Vi with that unconscious pitiful glance, the enforcer was not exactly proud of her childhood, or much of her life before Piltover but she would not tolerate being pitied.

"For goodness sake Caitlyn" she whispered to herself harshly, before glancing out of the window and watching a solitary snowflake descend lazily towards the ground. She would have to make things right with Vi, before the start of the holidays, and the inevitable snow storm it would bring. Finishing the tea that had sat stationary on her desk for the majority of the day, cold tea never bothered her, she grabbed her coat and rifle before heading out towards the district of Arant, where Vi happened to reside. It was also the location of the blue flame, her favoured haunt for drinking. Debating which she should visit first, she decided on heading to her apartment, in this weather it was more likely Vi would head home. Side stepping the now broken door, the sheriff buttoned her coat up and headed out with a grim smile, Vi could not have gotten too far ahead.

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Scowling into her glass of black pearl rum, Vi slumped over the particularly sticky bar, one of her gauntlets clenching the drink tightly. Mechanical fingers pressed hard against her temple as she sighed loudly and downed her beverage, calling the barkeep over for a refill hastily. Closing her eyes in order to concentrate on the earlier events, the fingers at her temple curled into a fist and she growled, unaware that the glass within her hand had shattered. "I swear Vi, I'm not going to have any glasses left if you keep breaking them" scolded the woman behind the bar, albeit in an affectionate manner, the enforcer glared up at the intrusion but there was no real malice in her eyes.

Tony, void help you if you spelled it with an 'I', was a fearsome and cantankerous old woman who ran the most prolific public house in Piltover, she was originally from Bilgewater and Vi was sure that in her youth she must have been a pirate. She had to be at least in her mid fifties now, not that that stopped her from smashing heads together if anyone was stupid enough to fight under her roof. "Sorry" Vi mumbled into her glass as it was refilled by the matronly woman, who tutted in response and eyed her warily before moving onto the next patron signalling her attention.

Despite her crotchety and fierce demeanour, Vi knew that Tony had a massive soft spot for her, primarily because she was always made to feel welcome, that and the great deals she got on drinks. If she thought about it, it was probably because the ex-pirate saw in her a younger version of herself, indeed the two were similar, both stubborn to a fault and better with their fists than words. Vi downed the rest of her glass at the thought, slamming it onto the counter and threw her head back, shoving both of her hands into her unruly pink hair. The goggles that were casually placed there were displaced by the movement and clattered to the floor, in response she groaned before smashing her head onto the bar.

A prolonged tut interrupted her depressed face plant, Vi spoke with her face still pressed against the wooden counter top and mumbled "go 'way", to which Tony responded with an eye roll and "so what's up hon?" Her tone was sympathetic and her eyes had narrowed in concern, this slump was out of character for the usually laid back enforcer. When all Tony heard in answer was a loud grumble, she leaned over the bar and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder before threatening "don't you ignore me now."

Vi growled into the woodwork before murmuring "I'm an idiot, I got really mad at Caitlyn earlier and I broke her door. Again." "Is that it?" exclaimed Tony furiously, placing her hands on her hips agitated "here I am thinking that you've got yourself in serious trouble and all you've done is upset your girlfriend?" Vi kept her face pressed against the hard surface, only moving to raise a solitary finger in displeasure and using it to swear at the hardened ex-pirate who chuckled in response.

"I wasn't aware that we were dating" interjected a soft voice behind Vi, who jumped up out of shock, her entire body reacting to the sound of Caitlyn's breathy accent. Wheeling around quickly on her stool, she came face to face with her partner, who was stood with the ghost of a smirk on her face, cheeks ruddy from the cold and wrapped up in her large fleecy coat. Vi thought she had never seen her look so beautiful, she stared at the sheriff still largely in shock, glancing at the snowflakes that had settled at stark contrast in her dark hair. Caitlyn stared back into the wide eyes of her partner, and took note with pleasure that her mouth was slightly agape, Vi's face was also a touch red, she would dare say that the enforcer had been drinking quite a bit.

As soon as Caitlyn had left the police department, she had headed for Vi's apartment believing it more likely to be where the upset enforcer had went. After being catcalled throughout the shady district, she had no idea why Vi chose to live there considering she earned enough for a nicer complex, she had almost beat down the door out of frustration. Only once one of the neighbours swore at the sheriff that she hadn't seen her did she head over to the Blue Flame, this meant Vi could only have been here for about thirty minutes if that. The heady scent of rum cascading in waves from the flummoxed enforcer betrayed how much she must have drank in that short space of time, Caitlyn's nose crinkled in distaste unconsciously.

"Shall we head over to somewhere slightly more private" suggested Caitlyn, gesturing towards an open booth in the dark recesses of the public house, she smiled at Vi's hurried nod. Walking over to the booth, the sheriff called over her shoulder "perhaps if you buy me a drink, I can get the next one?", perhaps it was because Vi was quite tipsy but she could have sworn that the sheriff's tone was playful, maybe even flirty. As she watched the brunette stride towards the booth, she was painfully aware of her heartbeat as it thundered in her ears, it's pace frightfully quick. Many of the locals who frequented the Blue Flame were observing the sheriff carefully, quite a few of those near the booth she was headed to decided to abscond their current seats and move further away.

"She's quite a woman eh?" joked Tony from behind the bar letting out a low whistle, she tapped Vi playfully upside the head, who was stood with glazed eyes following the brunette. Feeling the smack she quickly turned to the bar woman and grinned, before grabbing the two glasses she had just placed there and crying "wish me luck" with an exaggerated wink. As she meandered around the haphazardly placed tables and chairs, Vi's spirits that had begun to soar at the sight of cupcake once again, plunged as she remembered why she had been in the bar initially. Her face dropped as she continued towards the booth, much more hesitantly than she had been, it was very possible that Caitlyn had came to find Vi only to continue arguing, or scold her about the door, or even, and this thought was the worst, tell her how disappointed she was.

Her chest seized at the thought and she stopped in place holding the two glasses, eyes wide as she mulled over her actions earlier. Indignant fury gripped her, no doubt inspired by the large quantity of rum she had consumed, her eyes narrowed remembering the look of pity on Caitlyn's face and how it had hurt her to see it. Gritting her teeth, she stomped the remainder of the short distance over to where the sheriff had indicated them to sit. Glancing angrily, she focused on the stiff posture of her partner as she watched the enforcer storming over. Vi threw herself into the seat opposite, placing the glasses down roughly and stared into the other woman's stormy eyes, locking onto one another in the process.

Caitlyn was sat stiffly with her arms crossed, Vi was certain that her legs were also crossed though she would not break their staring contest to check. The enforcer removed both her gauntlets and dropped them onto the table, their extra weight leading it to verge to one side, she was pleased to note the brunette's nostrils flare at the thoughtless action. Caitlyn had not searched for her partner only to sit in a ghastly public house and stare at one another angrily, her eyes narrowed at the thought and she reached out to take one of the glasses of rum. Giving it a derisive sniff, she scowled at both Vi's smirk and the strength of the rum, steeling herself she downed the entire beverage without breaking eye contact.

Vi was surprised to say the least, Gangplank's personal blend was extremely strong, most people vomited after drinking it, she herself struggled to swallow it down. Yet here was the dainty sheriff of Piltover, looking as if she had drank nothing more than a particularly fragrant glass of water, her face must have betrayed her shock as Caitlyn began to smirk. They continued to stare at one another for a few moments until finally the sheriff sighed in frustration and stated fiercely "I did not come here to stare at you over rum." Seeing that Vi was about to interrupt her, she spoke honestly "I came here to apologise" and reached out with her hand in order to grip one of Vi's.

This had not been one of the scenarios that Vi had imagined while she was staring into her glass of rum, the shock of physical contact felt like a literal electrical shock that burst down her spine. She could feel the warmth pulsating from Caitlyn's hand as it gripped onto her own gently, it was quite difficult to concentrate on anything aside from how nice this felt. "I'm sorry for earlier, I was not thinking. I certainly do not pity you Vi" exclaimed the sheriff in an earnest whisper, firmly squeezing her hand to accentuate her point. "No, I'm sorry" started Vi, staring down at their joined hands "this time of year is just...hard for me. I shouldn't have got so angry with you, and I'm sorry about your door."

At the last comment, Vi had looked up at her partner apologetically and was surprised to see a large grin on her face. "It's okay, I'm sure it will be fixed when we get back from the holidays" sighed Caitlyn, who shrugged and glanced back at the enforcer. Vi smiled back and downed her drink, as if by magic, Tony had appeared by their booth with a bottle of Black Pearl. "Hey, thanks Tony" expressed the enforcer with a wide grin, the ex-pirate grinned back in response before glancing at their hands on the table. The sheriff pulled back her hand immediately following the glance, looking as if she'd been burnt by the contact. Tony raised an eyebrow at the reaction, then turned to Caitlyn with a heartfelt smile. "You must be Caitlyn" she queried politely, though she was well aware of who the sheriff was "I've heard so much about you" she continued, choosing to ignore the indignant stare she received from Vi.

The sheriff smiled as politely back, her eyes glancing confusedly at her partner, begging introduction. "Oh, this is Tony, she runs this place" stated Vi, rubbing the back of her neck unconsciously with her free hand, Caitlyn smiled at the familiar gesture before reaching out with her free hand and shaking the woman's hand. "Pleased to meet you" the sheriff spoke confidently, "the pleasure is all mine" replied Tony amicably with a pleasant smile. Vi coughed not at all discretely and nudged her head in the direction of the bar, the much older woman took the hint, exclaiming "I should probably get back to work then, enjoy the rum" before heading back towards the bar.

"She seems nice" commented the brunette about their unexpected guest, Vi grinned apologetically and replied "she is, just don't get on her bad side, I've heard stories..." trailing off with an exaggerated shudder. Caitlyn giggled involuntarily at her comment, which left the enforcer beaming as she poured the two of them large glasses of rum. It was odd but she could still feel warmth pulsating from the hand that had been grabbed earlier. Shaking her head to dislodge the sentimental thought, she lifted her glass to toast the woman across from her, though it was possible that the alcohol was making Caitlyn all the more attractive, Vi found it hard to concentrate on anything else.

Caitlyn returned the toast and downed her glass once more, Vi glanced at the sheriff over her own, she was quite surprised by how quickly she was able to drink. Raising an eyebrow at the curious glance from the enforcer, Caitlyn questioned "surprised?" with a slight smirk on her face she continued "you shouldn't be, I've had to down my fair share of alcohol at events I'd much rather not attend." Vi clapped an exaggerated hand over her mouth, feigning outrage "our very own sheriff, drunk at charity benefits, oh the shame." Caitlyn swatted the dramatic pink haired woman, "shush, don't tell everyone" she hissed whilst giggling at the theatrics, "besides they are boring affairs, I think you'd drink a fair bit too" she stated haughtily, though still smiling.

Pouring the both of them another glass, Vi chuckled "probably, don't know, never been to one" before shrugging and taking another sip of rum. The alcohol was starting to hit Caitlyn now, having downed three full glasses of rum in fifteen minutes, her vision was blurring just a touch and she felt very confident. Her eyes focused on the enforcers hextech gear tattoos that ran down the side of her neck, a devilish thought came to her as she wondered what other tattoos she might have. Vi glanced up from her rum, only to find her partner sat with narrowed glossy eyes and biting her lip quite forcefully, the strangest part was that Caitlyn was staring in her direction.

Turning around to see if anything behind her was causing the reaction, she found the area around them deserted, confused she turned to Caitlyn and snapped her fingers in front of her face stating "earth to cupcake." The brunette seemed to shake herself from a trance, before grinning at Vi and signalling her to come closer with her index finger. The enforcer obliged by moving around the table and sitting next to her partner, the two of them finished their current glasses and Vi raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. Caitlyn brought her face close to the enforcer and whispered in her ear "I like your tattoos" before pulling back and biting her lip once again, eyes lidded.

Heat, throbbing, pain, these were all sensations that demanded Vi's attention in response to her partner's close proximity, especially following her lips pressing against her earlobe. The comment she had made, it kind of made Vi think that Caitlyn's earlier glazed look might have been about her, brushing the thought away she came back to reality with a crash as she realised a hand had just placed itself upon her thigh. Her entire body stiffened in reaction as internally she began to scream in both pleasure and pain, turning to face Caitlyn, she found her partner glancing coyly at her, seemingly unaware of the roving hand that was now gripping her upper thigh firmly.

The sheriff began to giggle at the stupefied expression on Vi's face, she liked it, at least she knew how to get her to shut up in the future. Caitlyn had a fairly good idea that she was being very flirty, this tended to be a side effect of any alcohol consumption for her, well that and falling asleep wherever she was. She moved her face towards the pink haired woman, and burst into a fit of giggles at the thought of kissing her on the cheek, which she leaned in and did promptly. Feeling the heat radiating from Vi's cheek brought a smirk to her face, could her thick-headed partner be blushing? Pulling away, her eyes roved over the shocked woman's face and lit up when she observed that there was indeed a prominent and very vibrant blush on her cheeks.

Pinching herself in order to ascertain that this was indeed reality, Vi's entire body was tense in reaction to Caitlyn's very obvious and very tempting flirting. She desperately wanted to believe that the woman she had found attractive since they met was genuinely flirting with her. Glancing between the sheriff's heavily lidded eyes, lightly squeezing hand and the two thirds empty bottle of the strongest rum that Bilgewater had to offer, her hazy brain made the connection. "Cupcake..." she began firmly, interrupted by the sheriff's hand drifting even further up her thigh, she was dangerously close to touching her stomach now and one of her fingers was creeping under her shirt, ghosting across the taut flesh there.

"Cupcake, please" she stated desperately, trying to retain some semblance of sanity, she gripped the roving hand and pulled it towards her. Trying to ignore the pout on Caitlyn's face, she squeezed her hand firmly and held it on the table, somewhere safe where it would not cause a sharp throbbing pain between Vi's thighs. Taking a moment to compose herself might be an idea, she stood from the table and smiled at her partner in order to show no bad will at the touchy feely gesture, stating "just going to the bathroom." Caitlyn ran a hand through her cascading dark hair, trying to comprehend the words that had just came from Vi's mouth, understanding the word bath she shot from the table also.

"Me too" she mumbled in response, before beginning to sway towards the 'wench' door near them. Vi watched her hesitantly, on the one hand, her partner was very drunk and almost certainly shouldn't be left alone for her own safety. On the other hand though, it was probably not a smart idea to be in a small room with the stunning woman currently flirting with her. She watched Caitlyn push the door roughly, overestimating the strength necessary she fell through, only to land face down on the floor. Vi ran over to check whether she was injured, only to watch the brunette begin to laugh so uproariously she started to roll around on the floor.

Rolling her eyes at the out of the ordinary antics, Vi leaned down on one knee to Caitlyn who was still giggling and placed a hand on her cheek gently. "What am I going to do with you?" she chuckled, eyes gleaming as she stared into bright brown eyes that narrowed in triumph. Suddenly Vi felt her shoulders being pulled forward, unprepared for the movement, she thrust her arms out in order to land safely on the floor and found herself pressed nose to nose with the giggling sheriff, arms either side of her. Caitlyn was enjoying herself very much, lying in the doorway to the women's toilets wasn't usually something she would plan for a Friday night, but with this much rum in her and the quite handsome woman on top of her, it seemed like a great idea.

"I suspect you've fallen for me" murmured the sheriff, eyes alight with mischief and a broad smirk on her face, she chewed her lip following the comment and stared into the frightened eyes of her partner. Vi was almost certain this was some sort of alternate universe where Caitlyn had morphed into an Ahri-like succubus, she felt the brunettes thighs pressing against her sides and found it very hard to focus on anything, her thoughts descending into a chorus of screams. It took everything inside of her not to lean down and capture the lips of the woman beneath her, especially if she was going to continue biting them in the most frustrating of ways.

All Vi could hear was the pounding of her heart as she stared down into the dark eyes of her partner, who began to smile genuinely up at her, this caused both a pang deep in her chest and a painful throbbing from between her thighs. "Hey Vi" whispered Caitlyn, "guess what?", the pink haired woman raised an eyebrow at her question, before whispering back "what?" The sheriff giggled once more and spoke softly "I'm drunk", in response Vi rolled her eyes and stated "gathered that" with a wide smirk. Caitlyn then yawned and smiled sleepily at her partner, murmuring "I'm also sleepy, sleepy when drunk", the enforcer could not help grinning at her, the tired gestures were utterly adorable.

"Shall we get you home then?" queried Vi, who moved to get up from the floor and once stood, held out a hand to her inebriated friend. Caitlyn took it graciously and allowed herself to be lifted, she laughed at nothing in particular and sauntered over to their booth in order to grab her belongings. The enforcer watched her go with a slew of mixed emotions, surely this was the strangest evening she had had in her life, what was with Caitlyn being all over her. It must have been the alcohol, she made a mental note to include rum in every single gathering they both attended from now on. Eyeing the brunette warily whilst placing her gauntlets back on, Vi observed her swaying a lot and narrowly missing many of the tables on the way to the exit, she followed hurriedly and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Let me help" she stated firmly, glancing worriedly into her partners heavily lidded eyes, however once Caitlyn had felt herself being supported she had went limp.

Vi stood in the middle of the Bilgewater pub, now holding up her passed out partner and cursing whatever gods existed for this predicament. She quickly placed her other arm underneath Caitlyn's legs in order to support her and ended up carrying the woman in her arms. "Looks like you've pulled!" echoed a gruff voice in the bar, which roused a massive bout of laughter from the brigands who frequented the place, narrowing her eyes at the direction of the voice, she continued towards the door. Tony was stood by the door with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised good naturedly, she smirked before exclaiming "make sure you get her home safe, guess rum is not really her drink." Vi didn't miss the knowing gleam in the barkeeps eye but she responded with a smile and an assured "don't worry I will. See you soon."

Once she had exited the pub, Vi was almost certain that whatever she had done in a past life to deserve this series of events, certainly did not warrant the three feet of snow on the ground. Sighing exaggeratedly, she resolved to just take the both of them to her apartment, it would be too far to walk to Caitlyn's. Not because the woman was heavy, but the sheriff was not dressed for the weather, and as a shiver ran through Vi, she accepted that neither was she. Following her route home down the deserted streets, it had to be gone midnight, her eyes roved across the frozen landscape. She had to admit it was kind of beautiful, though her chattering teeth were a bit of a distraction, thankfully the alcohol was keeping her warm enough to make it to her front door without losing any appendages to the frost.

Attempting to hold onto the sleeping beauty in her arms and put the key in the door must have been quite a sight, eventually the sheriff ended up on her shoulder as Vi pushed the door open and stepped the both of them through. Once she had walked into the bedroom and gingerly placed Caitlyn down onto the bed, she ran towards the boiler in order to put the heating on, she would not have been surprised to see penguins roaming around the kitchen. Grabbing a glass of water so that her hangover the next morning would not be quite so painful, she gulped it down before filling one for Caitlyn and heading for the bedroom.

Placing the glass down on the bedside cabinet, she reached into her cupboard to grab the spare duvet and a pillow, resigning herself to a night on the couch. After setting up her own temporary bed, she tip toed into the bedroom once again and moved the brunette gently, attempting to make the bed around her. Caitlyn grumbled sleepily and grabbed one of her pillows, almost cuddling it, until she lay still once more, ever so lightly snoring. Vi smiled at the sheriff and her dainty snores, before walking over to the light and turning it off. "Vi?" mumbled a tired sounding voice, the woman in question walked over to the bed once again and responded with a whispered "yeah?" Caitlyn reached out with her hand blindly and the enforcer gripped it with her own.

"Come snowdown party with me" the sheriff slurred into her pillow, Vi was unsure whether this was a question or a statement, but she answered with a quiet "yeah" which seemed to sate the dozing woman who settled back into a deep sleep. Once she had left the room, she threw her hands into her untidy pink hair and growled quietly at the mixed emotions she felt. When she was finally in her sweatpants and sat on the sofa, Vi placed her elbows on her knees and grabbed her head in her hands, groaning lightly to herself. From the events of this evening she had to face facts, she had fallen for Caitlyn and like everything else she did in life, she had fallen hard.

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Pain, unquenchable thirst and pain again, were the thoughts that dominated Caitlyn's mind when she was awoken from her deep sleep, she felt absolutely terrible. Snuggling into the pillow her head lay upon, she stopped and gave it a derisive sniff, this was not her bed. Her eyes shot open, staring at the black duvet she lay under, this was not her bed or her bedroom, she sat up quickly before the room began to spin and groaned loudly lying back down. "Morning cupcake" called a sugary sweet voice at the door, cracking one eye open, Caitlyn stared at the smirking figure of Vi, who was leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed.

Desperately trying to remember what had happened the evening prior, Caitlyn recalled Vi shouting in the police department, her leaving to find the enforcer and then being in the Blue Flame. Her eyes widened as she remembered the extent to which she had flirted with the woman now grinning in the doorway, it couldn't have been. "Don't worry cupcake, I carried you to my bed and like a true gentleman, I slept on the couch" stated Vi honestly, walking over to sit on the bottom of the bed. Caitlyn attempted to sit up once again, taking it slower and was soon propped up, she then placed a palm to her forehead groaning. "Tea?" questioned the enforcer with a smirk as she watched the brunette close her eyes wincing at the headache, "here drink some water, I'll go make you a tea" she then walked off towards the kitchen and soon the sheriff heard the sound of the kettle whistling.

Once Vi had returned with the sacred cup of tea, the sheriff had almost downed it in an attempt to get hydrated once again, she drank it hurriedly, choosing to ignore the wide smirk on the enforcer's face. "You carried me?" began Caitlyn hesitantly, once she had finished the drink "I don't remember that" she murmured unsure, a frown evident upon her face. Vi placed the cup out of harms way before jumping next to her on the bed and turning her body to face the brunette with her legs crossed underneath her, it was only then that Caitlyn noticed the clothing, or lack thereof, of her partner. She had never seen the pink haired woman in anything but her normal gear, besides the skins they sometimes wore on the rift, but they had little say in those outfits. Shuddering at the indignity of battle bunny Riven, she glanced again at Vi, more specifically Vi in a vest and comfortable looking sweatpants.

Roving her eyes over the hextech gear tattoos that had so fascinated her the evening prior, she was pleased to note that Vi did have more than just the ones on her neck and face. "Yeah, I carried you home, because I'm hench obviously. I gotta ask, how did you fall asleep stood up?" exclaimed the enforcer enthusiastically, unintentionally interrupting Caitlyn, who was embarrassed to find she had been checking Vi out. "Erm, I don't know, if I drink at all, I can honestly just fall asleep wherever, that's why I don't make a habit of it" responded the sheriff earnestly, wincing once again at the throbbing behind her eyes. Vi grinned at the statement before inquiring "so last night you said you wanted me to go to a snowdown party with you?..." trailing off because she had started to laugh at Caitlyn's look of surprise.

"Oh my goodness, yes, it's the annual snowdown celebration at my parent's manor this evening" exclaimed Caitlyn loudly, clapping both hands to her cheeks as she remembered the date, then groaned once again and collapsed onto the bed. Vi observed this behaviour with a grin, stating matter of factly "if you don't want to go then just don't", the brunette scowled up at her from the pillows and sighed "if only I could, it's the one function I can't get out of unfortunately, plus it's the only time I can see my parents before snowdown." Catching the confused expression on Vi's face she explained "they have a cabin in the Freljord they spend the holidays in", Vi shook her head at the explanation and stated "of course they do" before questioning hesitantly "so...you want me to go with you...to your parent's party?"

Caitlyn stared into the unsure azure eyes of her partner and smiled widely, nodding her head and responding "yeah, it might be fun with you." "You should know by now, everything is fun with me cupcake" stated Vi charmingly, wiggling her eyebrows and nudging the brunette with her shoulder. Taking note of Vi's beaming grin, Caitlyn shook her head light-heartedly at how she had inflated the enforcer's already large ego and swatted at the pink haired woman. Glancing around the room with a smile, she caught sight of a large clock and gasped horrified at the time, "Vi It's already two in the afternoon, what the hell!" she screamed aghast before flinging back the covers and racing to get her boots back on.

Vi watched her attempting to get dressed with an indignant facial expression before protesting "hey this is when I usually get up, what's the hurry?" Caitlyn turned to the enforcer with her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes before stating "I am still in my clothes from last night and the guests will be arriving at seven o'clock sharp, I need to get ready, and so do you." With that comment, the sheriff stormed out of the bedroom door, before reappearing a moment later with her coat and rifle. She stood in the doorway, noticing that Vi had not moved at all from her perch on the bed and groaned loudly, "Vi, you have to be at mine for six o'clock okay? We need to be on time" she warned, her eyes ablaze.

"Yeah, yeah, I know" sighed Vi, running a hand through her hair unconsciously, she looked up at the frustrated woman with a tired smile. Caitlyn rolled her eyes at the gesture, her tension seeming to abate for the moment, she walked over to her partner and genuinely smiled. "Thank you for looking after me last night, I might have had a bit too much rum" stated the brunette apologetically, placing a hand on her shoulder. Vi grinned up at her, responding with "I couldn't just leave you there cupcake, had to make sure you were okay", the comment caused Caitlyn to feel a deep aching within her chest that had nothing to do with excess alcohol. The smile on her face quickly became a smirk as she leaned in closer to Vi and placed a kiss upon her cheek.

The enforcer stiffened at the deliberate action, unable to believe that not only was Caitlyn in her bedroom but she had also just kissed her, on the cheek, but a kiss no less. "I'll see you soon" she murmured into Vi's ear canal, her lips pressing against the soft skin there, before pulling away and sauntering towards the door with a satisfied grin. Vi was frozen, trying to comprehend what had just happened, clearly Caitlyn was still drunk, she had to be. "Make sure you wear something nice!" came a shout from the front door, before Vi heard it slam shut. As soon as it closed, she shot up from the bed and began to tear her wardrobe apart, attempting to find something to wear for this evening, with a grin she noted that it might be a good idea to follow Caitlyn's advice for once.


	6. Snowdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the annual Snowdown soirée at the Buxton manor, Caitlyn actually has a date this year and Vi is nervous for all the right reasons.

Wincing, whilst attempting to affix mascara onto her bothersome eyelashes, Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at her reflection. "How irritating..." she mumbled, placing the tube of make up down onto her bedside cabinet, not only did she have to attend her parent's snowdown celebration, a horrific prospect at the best of times, she would have to do it with the remnants of her still painful hangover incapacitating her. Scowling into the mirror, she begun the arduous process of applying the make up she so loathed, lipstick was so impractical, she dared say that more of it would end up on the glasses of wine than remain on her lips. If she had any say whatsoever in how she looked at such celebrations, then it would certainly be off the cards, however there were standards that the Buxton family were beholden to.

She was fairly certain that one of the reasons she had to be so beautifully presented at such functions, was because her father had intentions towards a suitor for her that would elevate the already esteemed status of her family. Scowling at the thought she checked her reflection once more, deeming herself satisfactory for the evening and glanced at the alarm clock beside her bed. Her stomach dropped as she realised that it was almost quarter to six, it would not be long before Vi was here, well that was if the generally tardy enforcer appeared on time, which was unlikely. Now that she was ready, she could no longer distract herself from thoughts of the previous evening, remembering how amorous her drunken self had been she threw herself onto the bed with a thump groaning loudly.

Honestly she had no idea what she had been thinking the previous evening, it had just felt so...pleasant to be in such close proximity with Vi, not only that but flirting with the enforcer had been so easy and comfortable. It almost felt natural, though this was definitely swayed by the alcohol, sighing she threw a hand over her eyes shielding them from the bright light above her. She wasn't sure whether or not she wanted Vi to discuss the events of last night, the thought both terrified and excited her. On the one hand, it might be possible that the enforcer had enjoyed it, which opened a vast and unending can of worms, on the other hand, Vi might have loathed her advances and was shocked by the whole ordeal.

Frowning deeply at the ceiling, Caitlyn tried to make sense of which scenario she would prefer. Obviously she did not want her best friend to feel in any way embarrassed by the flirting, physically cringing at the memory of pulling Vi on top of her she grabbed a pillow and flung it over her face, with a prolonged moan. What on earth had she been thinking, not only did she have to work with the enforcer, but her actions might have made things uncomfortable between herself and her best friend. Caitlyn was not a fool, she was very aware that she could be a difficult person to be friends with, this was reinforced by the fact that her only friends were other champions she met on Summoner's Rift, most of whom lived nowhere near Piltover.

The only person who had not only put up with Caitlyn's serious and sometimes acerbic manner, and seemed to actively enjoy hanging around with her was Vi. It was hard to believe that the stubborn vigilante and the prim and proper sheriff had managed to work together without murdering the other, let alone become so close. A subdued smile spread across Caitlyn's face as she thought about her first meeting with the enforcer, after researching as much as she could about the vigilante, she had tracked down Vi to the public house they had spent most of the evening prior in. So that she could actually talk with the woman, the sheriff had gone incognito, choosing to forgo her usual attire and dress casually. The effect had made her almost unrecognisable, particularly in the dimly lit and busy tavern, it had not been difficult to get Vi's attention, she thought with a smirk.

The thought of their first meeting raised an odd question however, Vi had been aggressively flirting with her from the moment they met, however last night when Caitlyn had been making advances shamelessly upon the enforcer, there had been no reciprocation. Frowning up at the ceiling, she felt strangely indignant at the fact, though she wasn't sure what her reaction would have been had Vi responded to her drunken attempts at flirting. Maybe she just wasn't her type, her partner did seem to favour blondes whenever there was an opportune moment to charm a member of the fairer sex. In a way this helped to massage her somewhat bruised ego, however thinking too hard about it led her to think that perhaps Vi had stopped being interested once she had gotten to know Caitlyn better.

A loud banging interrupted her scowling match with a particularly irritating ceiling tile, making a mental note to postpone her analysis of whether her personality or her looks were the most off-putting, she jumped from the bed. Glancing into the mirror, she flattened her long brown hair before heading towards the door, resolving herself to being on her best behaviour this evening. The rapping resumed with a loud 'hey cupcake you home? Hello?' and a rhythmic tapping to a beat she did not recognise, she hoped the enforcer was not this energised at the celebration. Upon pulling the door open, she came face to face with her pink haired partner still with a fist raised ready to rap upon the door, Caitlyn was pleased to note that she looked shocked.

"Wow cupcake you scrub up nice" Vi stated awestruck, letting out a small whistle as she appraised the brunette in front of her. Caitlyn rolled her eyes in response before glancing at the outfit of her partner. She was pleasantly surprised that Vi had dressed up rather nicely, she had had a pretty terrifying daydream that the enforcer would turn up in some sort of pool party aesthetic trying to be funny. Vi raised an eyebrow as she watched the sheriff give a slight nod of approval at the white suit she often wore for formal occasions, there had been an issue earlier where she had to quickly get some stains off it, Caitlyn would never forgive her if she had turned up with blood streaking down her sleeves.

Extending her arm towards Caitlyn in order for her to grab onto it, Vi grinned before enquiring "would you care to accompany me to the Buxton residence my lady?" in a pretentious parody of the uptown accent. With her coiffed pink hair, raised eyebrow and charming grin, Caitlyn couldn't help but think that the enforcer looked particularly handsome, though she attempted to push the thought from her mind. Grasping onto the extended arm with a flourish, the brunette flashed a dazzling smile before replying with a falsetto "I thought you'd never ask."

____________________

The walk through Piltover had been particularly uninteresting, there had been no robberies to halt, no muggers to apprehend, in fact Caitlyn was quite worried that eventually the two of them would have to talk about the evening prior. If that was Vi's intention however she made no effort towards that topic of conversation, choosing instead to regale her partner with an animated story about how she had single handedly saved a litter of orphaned kittens from being experimented upon by the insidious Dr Mundo. Caitlyn did not have the heart to tell Vi that she had heard this story at least three times already, she knew when to nod and when to gasp shocked at certain parts of the tale.

As they continued towards the manor, snowflakes began to descend at an alarming rate, Caitlyn pulled the hood of her fleecy green coat over her hair, she had not straightened it just to have snow settle on it and make it frizzy. The sound of chattering teeth caused her to look to her left only to find Vi shivering with her hands tucked up underneath her armpits for warmth. "Oh for goodness sake, how many times do I have to tell you that you should wear a coat? It's the middle of winter, honestly" scolded the sheriff, tutting to accentuate her point. The statement lost most of it's acerbic tone by the end, primarily because Vi looked so pathetic that it was kind of adorable. "Wish I had my gauntlets" stuttered the pink haired woman, to which Caitlyn responded with an indignant "well I am glad that you haven't, it's my parent's manor, not a war zone."

Vi pouted at the comment, before sniffling and her teeth began to chatter once more, Caitlyn eyed her warily before hailing one of the taxi cabs that were passing slowly by. The sheriff also ignored the protests Vi attempted, such as how expensive they were and how they were almost there, before pushing the pink haired woman into the waiting taxi cab. Once they were seated and Caitlyn had issued a blunt "Buxton Manor", the brunette turned to survey her partner who was now blowing on her hands in an attempt to attempt to warm them. Rolling her eyes at Vi, she stated "here" and grabbed her hands, pressing them between her own in order to help heat them up, hissing through her teeth she recognised that they were in fact freezing.

Glancing up from their joined hands, she caught sight of Vi's perplexed expression and made a pointed effort to glance out of the window. A quite fervent blush spread across her cheeks as she stared intently at the passing scenery, the sparse trees on the outskirts of central Piltover were becoming much more thickly bunched, indicating that they were drawing ever closer to their destination. Vi's hands began to slowly acclimate and soon were at room temperature, she made no effort to draw them back from Caitlyn's grasp however and instead turned one of her hands upwards so her palm was resting underneath Caitlyn's own.  
Dark brown eyes widened as the brunette stared out of the window, she was not sure what to make of the gesture and as she glanced out of the corner of her eye towards Vi, she found the enforcer was also staring out of her own window, albeit with a huge smirk upon her face. 

So she knew what she was doing, speculated the sheriff, eyeing the woman next to her warily, perhaps this was a friendly gesture of thanks, maybe it was a nervous and comforting gesture in anticipation of the evening ahead. Caitlyn was well aware that the unpolished and brash enforcer was not keen on fancy parties and engagements of a more political nature, she was much more at home in a gym or a dive bar. A smug grin spread across her face as a thought crossed her mind, she murmured "are you scared Vi?" with a teasing tone, watching as Vi's jaw clenched before she stated firmly "no."

Caitlyn had just opened her mouth to tease the enforcer more when the taxi driver harrumphed and spoke loudly "Buxton manor." Quickly glancing out of the car to find that they were indeed at her childhood home, Caitlyn thanked the man and passed over more than enough for their fare before disembarking. Compared to the other vehicles on the drive, the taxi did not make for an auspicious entrance, however holding her head high she remembered that she didn't much care for the opinions of others, much unlike her father. Casting a roving eye across the driveway and the pheasants perched on the edge of the roque court, she smiled at the large expanse of woodland that surrounded her familial home, inhaling deeply the aroma of pine.

Turning to grin at her partner, Caitlyn was flummoxed to find that Vi was still sat stubbornly in the taxi, her eyes wide as she surveyed their surroundings. Leaning back into the car she grabbed Vi's hand and pulled her out, or attempted to anyway, the enforcer was acting like dead weight and refused to be shifted. "Vi, we're here, let's go" she stated sweetly in an attempt to cajole the pink haired woman out of the car, when she did not react in any way but to shake her head, Caitlyn sighed loudly and hissed "you are making a scene, if you are not out of this car in three seconds, I will never let you have one of my cupcakes again, do you hear me?"

The threat worked its magic and Vi was out of the taxi in no time, she brushed herself down self consciously and stared petulantly back at the sheriff, before stating firmly "that was low cupcake, you know I love your baking." Caitlyn shrugged at the comment before pulling Vi towards the expanse of woodland at the foot of the driveway with a cry of "look at all the nature" and gesturing towards the trees. Vi made a noise of consent but was staring at the woods with an unsure expression, growing up in the slums of Zaun and then spending most of her adulthood in the techmaturgical centre of Piltover, she had not spent much time around nature. Watching Caitlyn light up at the surrounding woodland, she could see why the sheriff might be enamoured with the idea of camping, something she had frequently mentioned might be fun to do together.

To be perfectly honest Vi could think of nothing more boring than sitting in the woods and staring at the leaves on the floor, however, casting a glance towards the still beaming brunette, she thought it might be worthwhile in order to spend some time with her partner. Especially following whatever had happened the previous evening, she had waited to see whether Caitlyn would mention anything or attempt to talk about her flirty behaviour, but as of yet nothing. If it had been any other woman the night previous pulling Vi on top of them, the enforcer dared say she would not have been sleeping on the couch, however Caitlyn was something else. She was absolutely not a conquest, in fact she was her closest friend and the main reason that she had been unable to respond to her drunken advances was because Vi had fallen for the serious brunette quite some time ago.

Of all the stupid things that Vi could have done, she had had to fall for the sheriff of Piltover. Not only a sheriff, but also the heir to the Buxton inheritance, although Caitlyn did not like to talk about the amount of wealth her family inevitably held, it was fairly obvious based on the manor they were now stood outside and the acres of land surrounding it. The enforcer cast a worried glance towards the fairly imposing building, she wasn't sure what was happening between herself and Caitlyn, but she was fairly certain that her family would not approve of any sort of relationship. To be fair she didn't give a fuck what he thought, but she knew that her partner valued the opinions of her father very highly, and considering Vi's parents were no longer around, who was she to stand in the way of anyone else's relationship with their own. Now she was just getting ahead of herself, these fears were only relevant if the sheriff liked her too, which was actually kind of hard to assess so best just presume she isn't into-

"Are you listening to me?" an indignant voice interrupted Vi's internal monologue, she turned to find the object of her affection stood with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Caitlyn sighed before repeating herself "I said we should head in now, most of the guests have arrived", Vi shook her head quickly in an attempt to dislodge the sentimental thoughts she had been having before grinning at the confused brunette. "Alright cupcake, let's go" stated the now enthusiastic enforcer who flung her arm around Caitlyn's shoulders as they walked towards the thriving entrance to the manor. "Yes, about that..." began the sheriff, who looked a touch hesitant and began to pull the quite comfortable arm from around her shoulders. She turned to face the puzzled woman before continuing "it might be best if you don't call me cupcake when we are around other people", before Vi could even begin to protest, Caitlyn placed both of her hands upon the much taller woman's shoulder and stated firmly "especially my parents."

Vi laughed at her partner's earnest expression before sobering up at the scowl that had replaced it, "yeah I know cupcake don't worry, it will be our secret." Winking at the disgruntled brunette, she laughed again before extending her arm once more and inviting Caitlyn to grab onto it. She did so and the two of them wandered amicably towards the entrance of the stately home, as they strode past the giant lion statues that flanked the stairs they were now ascending, Vi leaned in to her partner to whisper "hey dontcha think they look like Rengar." Caitlyn visibly stiffened before turning her head quickly towards where the enforcer had indicated, loud laughter burst from the pink haired woman and she was rewarded with a soft slap on her shoulder. "That's not funny" stated Caitlyn indignantly, swatting at the now chuckling woman, Vi wiped a tear from her eye and they continued walking arm in arm.

Though Vi was attempting to stay her usual hilarious self, she could not help but to be a touch awestruck by the grandiose manor they were inside of. Huge and ostentatious paintings and tapestries lined the stone walls and roaring fires sprang from logs placed in fireplaces down the corridor. Revelers lined the hallway, many of whom seemed quite merry and all of whom greeted Caitlyn warmly, the sheriff received them all politely, well aware of the role she would have to play this evening as the sole child of the hosting family. Most of the guests were a bit more reserved in greeting Vi, she was not a usual guest at such functions and the hot headed enforcer had caused her fair share of property damage in the city attempting to capture criminals. Accordingly, many of the rich and famous invited to the snowdown celebration were also those who owned their fair share of property within the city, Caitlyn had heard about their issues with the enforcer quite frequently and often at great length.

Whilst the sheriff thought that her partner was at least somewhat unaware of the sentiments of the aristocracy in Piltover, Vi had a very good idea that many of the fancy pants people at the party had no love lost for her. She could see it in their vacant eyes and false smiles, the whole idea of pretending to like someone for politeness sake was completely foreign to her and it pained her to play along as well. Well it pained her that she couldn't just tell them to go fuck themselves, she rather enjoyed exaggeratedly mimicking their body language in response. Caitlyn was well aware of the behaviour of her partner, but chose to ignore it for the moment, she hoped that the guests would just presume she had no social finesse, which was of course correct anyway.

Suddenly a young woman appeared from the throng gathered around a particularly large fireplace, she was wearing a very short red dress and was sloshing wine from a glass that kept tipping to the side. She flung herself at Caitlyn and wrapped a thin arm around the sheriff's neck before screeching "Cait! So good to see you, oh I've been dying to tell you about my new boyfriend, he's a champion you know!" Vi stared incredulously at the tipsy woman now strangling her partner, Caitlyn whispered a low "hello Cecilia" and attempted to extract herself from the fierce grip around her neck, glancing at Vi with a 'help me' expression. The enforcer coughed to interrupt Cecilia, who was midway into regaling the brunette with a high pitched tale of how the totally gorgeous Ezreal had bumped into her earlier in the evening and how dreamy his eyes were.

Piercing emerald eyes glanced towards the enforcer and roved across her outfit, Vi had the feeling that she was being inspected and raised an eyebrow at the woman in front of her. Cecilia brought both her hands onto her hips, letting go of a grateful Caitlyn and walked closer to Vi, who could see that this woman had no concept of personal space. "So, you must be Vi" Cecilia stated her tone playful as her eyes pointedly glanced at the Roman numerals etched upon the other woman's face. The pink haired woman crossed her arms and grinned at the disconcerting blonde, who continued with "it's nice to finally meet you. You're all anyone's been talking about in Piltover for some time, that and the unfortunate...mess, you brought with you from Zaun."

Both Caitlyn and Vi narrowed their eyes in unison at that last comment, knowing that she had meant Jinx, and the trail of destruction they had of yet been unable to cease. The sheriff stepped closer to Cecilia, their faces inches apart and stated firmly "it's so nice to see you again" through gritted teeth. The smug smirk on the blondes face caused Caitlyn to almost have an aneurysm, as she grasped Vi firmly by the arm and pulled her away, a sickly sweet voice called after them "have fun with your date Cait, she seems...well, your type anyway." Her obnoxious giggle followed them as the brunette stormed into an adjacent room, her protesting partner falling behind, as Caitlyn pulled the door to after them she banged her fist against the wall and sighed deeply.

"Why didn't you let go of me? I would have beat her face in for the way she was talking to you" exclaimed Vi forcefully, gesturing towards the closed door, only pausing to push some of the hair that had flopped onto her forehead back into its rightful place. Caitlyn continued to stare at the door with one hand curled into a fist and stated calmly "I would honestly and sincerely like nothing more, however she is the daughter of another statesman, one who is a close friend of my fathers." Vi watched as the sheriff began to pace haphazardly across the room continuing her rant with "so I have had to be acquaintances with that...snake, for the better part of my life, oh as if she mentioned Jinx, and of course you're my date, who else would I take?"

Though this was certainly not the time or place, Vi leaned in towards the flustered brunette and murmured "so this is a date?", before pulling back with a wink and an exaggerated lip bite. Caitlyn almost screamed, she wheeled to face the thick headed enforcer and stated matter of factly "Vi I am stressed, there are a hundred Cecilia's out there, all of whom I am going to have to pretend to enjoy conversation with. I need you to help me get through this. Trust me this would make a hideous date, of that I am sure." Vi had winced at the quite hideous idea of a hundred Cecilia's and catching the exasperated expression on her partner's face decided to pull her into a tight hug. Caitlyn was utterly surprised by the physical contact and the comforting gesture, so initially she froze in place before placing her arms tentatively around the enforcer.

"I'll help you cupcake" Vi murmured into the brunette's hair, squeezing her after the last word and eliciting a sot sigh from the usually uptight sheriff. Caitlyn pulled away from the embrace and glanced up into the bright azure eyes she could recognise anywhere and a rather brash idea erupted into her mind as her eyes roved across Vi's slightly parted lips. It would be so easy to just press up onto her toes and lean forwards, in fact it seemed like the greatest idea in the history of ideas, and there had been plenty of great ideas in Piltover. Vi watched unsure as her partner's eyes became momentarily half lidded before a loud knocking erupted from the entrance, followed by a terse statement of "Caitlyn are you in there? The Freljordian royalty are here, they're asking after you."

Caitlyn leaned her head against the shoulder of the other woman and sighed before calling over her shoulder in response "yes father, give me a minute, I'll be right out." Glancing up into the bright eyes of her partner, she smiled and murmured "I don't mind Ashe but that Tryndamere is so brutish, I hope he isn't drinking or I dare say we shall have a brawl later on." Vi grinned in response and stated "hey I like him, he's fun to fight with" before leaning in to murmur "is it time to meet the parents already?" Caitlyn swatted at her quite sharply and stated firmly "you truly are insufferable" but her eyes were crinkling with mirth, she looked unsure before commenting "I am sure that they will love you, well I know my mother will anyway, she's obsessed with hextech, that's one of the many reasons I didn't want you to bring your gauntlets."

Pouting at the sheriff, Vi crossed her arms unhappily and glared at her now smirking partner, she had just opened her mouth to retort when the banging resumed. "Caitlyn I'm starting to look a bit strange talking to a door" a sharp statement interrupted the two and Caitlyn replied with a terse 'coming' before striding towards the door. Vi watched as she pulled open the door only to reveal a much more serious male version of Caitlyn at the door. She had seen pictures of statesman Buxton before, he was a prominent fixture in newspaper stories about anything political in Piltover, in person however it was quite striking just how similar the father and daughter looked, honestly the main difference was the thin pencil moustache that Mr Buxton wore.

At the thought of Caitlyn with similar facial hair, Vi couldn't help but to guffaw quite loudly, clasping a hand over her mouth she shrugged apologetically to Caitlyn who had turned to stare at her with eyes like ice. The austere gentleman at the door raised an eyebrow at her laughter before speaking to his daughter as if nothing had happened, "Caitlyn there are quite a few guests asking after you. Might I ask why you are spending the evening in an empty room with your subordinate officer?" The cutting tone that he had used was so tart it made Caitlyn grimace, she always felt like a naughty school child whenever her father spoke to her that way. "Shall we?" he requested gesturing towards the throngs of people outside in the hallway, without waiting for a response he strode out of the room.

Silence echoed throughout the room as Vi watched her partner stare angrily towards the now empty doorway, her shoulders were tense and though she could not see her face, Vi was certain that Caitlyn was scowling. "Bit harsh isn't he?" stated the offended enforcer, who was watching the door hesitantly, Mr Buxton was not the sort of problem one could punch their way out of, unfortunately for a variety of reasons she would have to remain polite towards him. This meant that she would require copious amounts of alcohol, glancing at the irritated sheriff, she hazarded a guess that the both of them might enjoy some liquid confidence.

Caitlyn was choosing to ignore the comment, she turned to Vi with a grimace and rolled her eyes before following her father in leaving the room. Pausing in the doorway she called over her shoulder "aren't you coming?", at which Vi sprinted over to join her and was rewarded with a soft smile. "Sorry, my father is a bit much, especially at events like this, he is always so concerned with what others think" sighed Caitlyn, as the two of them walked amicably into the ballroom, the groups of revelers seemed much more merry than they had previously and as a consequence were less interested in the passing pair. "Fucking hell cupcake, I bet your parents have an island, they've gotta right?" asked the shocked enforcer, gazing around the spectacularly decorated room with awe.

"No" stated the sheriff firmly, she cast a derisive eye over the guests intermingling on the dance floor, sniffing in distaste she continued "they have a share in a small island off Ionia, so technically only half an island." Vi stared incredulously at her partner, her eyebrows raised at the nonchalant mention of such substantial wealth, she scoffed before scouting out her favourite location in a stuffy formal event such as this, the bar. "Hey cupcake, you want anything?" she asked whilst gesturing towards the waiting barman nearby, Caitlyn nodded in response and Vi headed off. The sheriff continued to scan amongst the guests lining the walls, a soft "aha" burst from her lips as she spotted some guests that she did in fact not mind talking to.

"Hey professor" she greeted the moustachioed yordle with a wide grin, he beamed at her in response before stating "hello sheriff, I must say the assortment of powders on your face have certainly done the trick, and it is nice to see you out of your usual attire." "Hey, I called dibs Heimer, she's my date" quipped Vi as she barged into their conversation, now with two rather full glasses of wine, Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at the choice of beverage and Vi grinned before exclaiming "thought it might be best to leave the rum until later" then winked at the now visibly flustered brunette. A subdued blush momentarily appeared on Caitlyn's face as she thought about their previous evening and she rolled her eyes at the chuckling enforcer.

Heimerdinger raised a rather bushy eyebrow at the two of them before commenting "don't worry Vi, I'm more than occupied with the delegate from Bandle City, though we could certainly trade if that's what you wanted." "Depends on who it is" joked the enforcer who received a sharp slap on the shoulder at the comment, she rubbed it wincing exaggeratedly before something brushed against her leg and she tensed staring down only to find nothing there. Confused, she wheeled around attempting to find what had touched her, though she saw nothing she heard a high pitched giggle that cut through her like a knife. Not him, oh please, not "captain Teemo on duty" shrieked a small and adorable looking yordle that had just appeared by Vi's feet.

Similar to an elephant being frightened of a small mouse, the tall pink haired woman flinched when she saw Teemo materialise out of thin air, oh god she hated him so much. Flashbacks of counter jungling, blinding darts and being choked by mushrooms hidden in the bush made her visibly cringe and she looked down at the grinning yordle with a look of utmost hatred. "Awww, look at your cute little tuxedo, you look very handsome" cried Caitlyn with a squeal of delight, she picked up the rather deadly assassin as if he were a teddy bear and turned to Vi with a smile questioning "don't you think he looks handsome?" Gritting her teeth the enforcer nodded at her partner who seemed satisfied with the response, before placing the yordle back onto the ground where he brushed himself down and giggled.

Vi's eyes narrowed at the sound of his laughter, if she had to describe it, it would be similar to a bus full of children screaming, except the bus was on fire. "I hate you" she stated in a low murmur to the still giggling yordle, he stopped for a second only to turn invisible and continued laughing at her. She growled before downing her glass of wine and striding towards the bar and getting a bottle, she knew the little shit was following her. Once she had come back to Caitlyn, who raised an eyebrow at the volume of wine the enforcer was expecting herself to drink, but continued her conversation with Heimerdinger, he was into a long diatribe about how he was still a viable champion. "...I mean the turrets are surprisingly overpowered and I have a stunning grenade as well as rockets! The only thing I'm missing is a dash of some sort, but still I'm positive that I am still a strong mid laner" he protested towards the sheriff who was nodding with empathy at his statement.

The professor's cheeks were becoming more and more ruddy as he continued to finish his whisky, Vi supposed that considering the yordle's relatively small stature and weight, it would not take long for him to get drunk. She grinned before joining in with their discussion "I hate playing against you, if I try to gank the lane you get a double kill, how does that work?" she asked while leaning over the furry creature and glaring down at him. She could not see because of the thick moustache and the overly large goggles that he wore at all times, but Vi was certain that he was smirking, he was certainly laughing when he taunted her with "don't worry, you can learn so much from failure." Caitlyn couldn't help laughing at the scowl that appeared on Vi's face in response, the enforcer was so easily goaded, it was almost unfair to tease her.

"So have you seen any other champions?" Caitlyn asked the professor whilst craning her neck to discern whether there were any other people she recognised in the main hall, continuing with "I know that Ashe and Tryndamere are here though I dare say they are besieged with offers for conversation." "Only befitting their roles as the rightful royalty of the Freljord" acknowledged Heimerdinger with a purposeful nod towards the centre of the room where Caitlyn could now see the two of them in their regal furs speaking to, of all people, her parents. Sighing she turned back to Vi and whispered "we'll grab them later, have you seen anyone else?" the enforcers face glowered and Caitlyn continued "apart from Teemo." "That's a funny way of saying Satan" murmured Vi, so low that the sheriff only just heard, she glared at the pink haired woman before turning her attention back to Heimerdinger.

"Well most of the states within Runeterra have sent a delegate of some sort tonight, if only to keep up appearances, I heard a nasty rumour that Urgot was being sent by Zaun as a joke but as of yet I have not seen him." The professor had begun to pace during his monologue which was fast becoming a lecture, the two women watched him bemusedly as he continued his speech. "The Demacian siblings are here, that duchess from Ionia, Karma I believe, is speaking to Jayce over by the bar. Some delegates from Noxus have appeared as well, though they have not been well received by many of those attending this evening." Caitlyn scowled as she hoped against hope that Katarina was not one of them, however she caught sight of a redhead moving quickly towards them, knocking people aside as she stormed over and Caitlyn's scowl deepened.

"Ha as if you got dragged here by your girlfriend" exclaimed Katarina as she grasped Vi's forearm with her hand and Vi mimicked the gesture, Caitlyn's eyes narrowed in response and the assassin laughed heartily. The enforcer grinned back at Katarina stating "I didn't think I'd see you here, guess the general had the last word after all", Katarina smirked before raising her finger in an unnecessarily rude gesture and replied "yeah yeah, unfortunately Talon disappeared as soon as he heard about it and father thought that the Piltover hierarchy might take offence if he sent his snake daughter." Heimerdinger guffawed at the comment and Katarina narrowed her eyes at him before demanding some of the red wine that Vi was clutching.

After downing a third of the bottle, the assassin grinned before stating "well it's been fun, but I've gotta find Draven, he's probably passed out somewhere." Katarina turned towards Vi exclaiming "we still on for tomorrow?", when the enforcer gave a thumbs up and an exuberant “definitely” the redhead waved before disappearing back into the throng of people. Caitlyn frowned at the last comment by Katarina and the implications it wrought, what were her and Vi doing tomorrow? Not like it was any of her business of course what or even who the enforcer spent her time doing but it irked her that she didn't know. She was so busy thinking that she did not hear Vi call her name, suddenly a hand waved in front of her eyes and tore her from her reverie, "hey cupcake, wanna hear something funny? Apparently Draven left with some girl ages ago and Katarina watched him go! Wonder who she's going to 'find'" laughed Vi as she made quotation marks with her fingers for the last word.

"Hmm, one can only speculate" teased Caitlyn knowingly as she watched the redhead leave the main ball room and head off down a corridor that she was sure a certain broad shouldered demacian had left through only a few minutes prior. "Pleasure talking to the two of you but I've just noticed that Karma is free and I'd like to hear her opinions on whether or not I'm a viable mid laner, good day sheriff, good day enforcer" stated the somewhat sozzled yordle who meandered off in the direction of the duchess. Vi laughed as she watched him depart, she lifted the bottle to her mouth to drink from it but catching the disgruntled stare of her partner, she took great effort in pouring it into a glass as a gesture of appeasement.

"How civilised of you" acknowledged Caitlyn, unable to help rolling her eyes at her partner's uncouth ways, she found it kind of sweet however that she didn't even have to say anything, Vi just knew that she wasn't impressed. Caitlyn glanced out of the corner of her eye at the enforcer who was sipping her wine and surveying the room warily, she smiled at the uncertainty in her azure eyes, it was quite endearing to see the usually confident Vi looking a bit anxious. Caitlyn finished her glass and headed towards the bar, she smiled as she heard the familiar footsteps following her, it was not difficult to get served at the bar, in fact the barmen were clamouring to serve the daughter of the host. Vi grinned as she walked away with two bottles of wine, she snickered "one for each hand cupcake" and proceeded to drink from one of them. The attempt at being civilised had been nice while it lasted, Caitlyn sighed before searching across the room for her father, she did not think he would appreciate the enforcer's behaviour.

Her dark brown eyes widened as they met a pair of similar eyes, Caitlyn couldn't help the smile that spread across her face and she leaned into the open arms of her mother for a tight embrace. "Caitlyn darling, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you, oh it's so good to see you" cried the obvious Mrs Buxton, who looked nothing at all like the sheriff, save the colour of their eyes. She also seemed to have enjoyed a fair few drinks during the evening as she had very red cheeks, the two women pulled apart and Caitlyn attempted to apologise but her mother had already noticed Vi and began to beam. "So you must be Vi, it's so good to meet you, Caitlyn talks about you all the time" blurted the older woman, oblivious to the mortified expression on her daughters face as well as the stare currently boring into the back of her head.

"Does she now?" commented the enforcer, whose head seemed to inflate upon hearing those words, "it's my pleasure Mrs Buxton" she continued whilst grasping the woman's hand and placing a kiss upon the back of it. "Oh you can call me Charlotte" replied the clearly flattered woman, visible from the faint blush that had spread across her cheeks, "you didn't tell me she was so charming" she called out towards her daughter. Caitlyn would have liked nothing more than to be swallowed into the ground, "I hear you're quite a hextech expert" stated Mrs Buxton whose eyes were alight with mischief as she looked back at her daughter. "Yeah I know a thing or two" claimed Vi whilst dusting herself off with her knuckles obnoxiously, "not nearly as good as you though, didn't you kit cup-Caitlyn out with her rifle?' gushed Vi, wincing only slightly as she began to say cupcake, Mrs Buxton raised an eyebrow at the change but smiled broadly at Vi.

'Caitlyn honey, your father was asking after you, why don't you keep him company and we can talk technology?' stated Caitlyn's mother firmly, it was certainly not a question, the sheriff nodded politely and raised an eyebrow at Vi before heading towards the last location she had seen her father speaking to the other statesmen. Casting a glance over her shoulder she watched the two of them walking out towards the private balcony, she felt ashamed to feel a twinge of jealousy and scowled before downing her glass. After making another stop at the bar, this time for a shot, she waded through the crowd stopping where needed and playing the dutifully polite host. During her search, she came across Karma and Heimerdinger in a heated argument over whether or not the latter could be a support, and she observed Cecilia attempting to flirt with a thoroughly disinterested Jayce.

Though she wanted to help save him, Caitlyn had no intention whatsoever of either speaking to Cecilia or of being seen talking to Jayce. Her father would have had a field day, he was convinced that the two of them were meant to be and often worked towards that end. Quite frequently she would attend dinners at the manor only to find Jayce also there, her father used the excuse that Jayce's own father was a close friend but she knew that he had ulterior motives. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of a very tipsy Ezreal leaning his hand against a wall that had Lux leant against it, the light mage had a prominent blush upon her cheeks and was chewing on her lip. Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at the young woman but she received a subtle shake of the head, Lux was clearly okay with whatever was going on so the sheriff continued to look for her father.

After a good ten minutes of searching, Caitlyn frowned and tutted after being unsuccessful in finding her father, he must have retired to one of his offices with a few notable guests. Roving her eye across the guests still in the main ball, she recognised that the hour was late now and many had either headed home or had requested a room in the manor. The one person she couldn't find in the remaining guests was of course the only one she wanted to see, Caitlyn cringed sincerely hoping that her mother was not embarrassing her. It had been a habit of hers in the past with any friends or dates, the only thing Caitlyn could not ascertain was which of the two her mother thought Vi was. She wasn't even sure to be honest, she knew that the enforcer was her closest friend but sometimes, and especially of late, she felt slightly more towards her.

Sighing, Caitlyn finished her glass before heading towards the bar in order to grab some water, she was starting to feel thoroughly tipsy and became a touch worried about how she might act, but honestly she just wanted to find the thick headed woman first. Thanking the barman with a smile she then headed towards the balcony where her mother and Vi had left to earlier, she heard raucous laughter erupting from outside and stormed towards the adjoining door. Pushing it open, Caitlyn found Vi laughing uproariously and her mother chuckling, she raised an eyebrow at the two before the pink haired woman grinned and cried "your mum was just telling me about when you tried to solve the mystery of why you didn't have a brother or sister" before she burst into another fit of laughter.

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at the comment and crossed her arms indignantly, she harrumphed before exclaiming "I believe I was eight, it was also a legitimate question.' Vi continued to chuckle and her mother was actually crying with laughter, the sheriff crossed her arms and stared at the two of them, until Mrs Buxton sighed "it was really nice talking to you Vi, I'd best get back to my other guests." Caitlyn's mother hugged the enforcer tightly then strode past Caitlyn giving her a keenly raised eyebrow and a knowing glance. The sheriff watched her leave the balcony with a perplexed expression before turning to her partner, who laughed before shrugging her shoulders and stated "your mum is amazing."

The brunette rolled her eyes and walked towards her partner, "I'm aware' she sighed whilst sipping at her water, Vi raised an eyebrow at her before questioning "no rum? Didn't you fancy it after last night?" and turned to the sheriff with a wide smirk. Caitlyn leaned in close to the enforcer and whispered into her ear "I'm ignoring that comment, just so you know." Vi felt the sheriff close to her once again and turned her face rapidly to find that their faces were rather close once again, it was fast becoming a regular occurrence and to be perfectly honest she wouldn't have moved for all the gold in the universe. Caitlyn could feel the enforcer's breath upon her lips and her eyes darkened in response as she chewed upon her lip unconsciously. 

Vi felt like a deer in headlights, it was like she was observing what was happening from outside of her body, from what she could see it was a million per cent positive that Caitlyn was being flirty and that led to quite a few questions as to what she should do. Her brain was telling her that it was the alcohol making the sheriff so receptive, her heart told her to go for it and the aching from down below caused her to want to go for it. She glanced upwards and grinned at one of the snowdown decorations out on the balcony, she murmured “hey cupcake, look mistletoe” before smiling at the brunettes shocked expression.

An orchestra of thoughts descended upon Caitlyn's mind, she checked out that there was indeed mistletoe above the two of them before biting her lip and deciding that she ought to follow tradition. The brunette gripped onto both of Vi's shoulders and leaned onto her toes, she pressed her nose against the enforcer's and whispered "I dare say we are beholden to the archaic traditions of snowdown." Vi gulped nervously, eyes focused upon her partner before stating breathlessly "I have no idea what the fuck you just said' before she grabbed the back of Caitlyn's head and pressed their lips together. Caitlyn could feel both the rough grip on her hair and the surprisingly warm lips of her partner, and she brought her own hand up to rest on Vi's cheek, tracing the tattoo on her face.

The two of them pressed even closer together with their bodies touching and Vi gripped Caitlyn's waist firmly with the hand not currently running through auburn hair. The dull aching from below was fast becoming a roaring pain that was focused entirely upon Caitlyn and how good she felt pressed against the enforcer. Vi grabbed the sheriff and pulled her even closer, whilst opening her mouth to the brunette, an invite that was readily received. Vi felt herself hit the barrier wall on the balcony and lost in the moment, she raised her hand to brush across the sheriffs chest, earning an appreciate hitch of breath from Caitlyn. The two of them were became much more needy during their heated kissing and hands began to rove everywhere, Caitlyn could not honestly think of anything that had ever felt so good, and Vi was in complete euphoria, the woman she had fallen for was pressed against her and they were making out on a balcony.

"Ha! I knew it!" interrupted a loud voice from the entrance door, Caitlyn glanced over her shoulder shocked at the intrusion only to find Katarina stood there with a smug smirk upon her face. The sheriff pulled away from Vi rapidly, her eyes were wide and she looked terrified, mumbling "I need to go” before she sprinted towards the entrance and disappeared from sight. The enforcer watched her leave with an extremely forlorn expression upon her face, she then turned to Katarina and screamed "why? Why the fuck would you do that?" before pinning her against a wall, eyes ablaze. The assassin had the good grace to look embarrassed, and stated "hey I didn't realise she'd run off" before glaring at Vi and pushing her off.

Vi stared at the red head but there was no real malice there, she was upset, frustrated, confused and incredibly aroused, Katarina just didn't know when to stop. Gripping her head in her hands the enforcer sighed loudly, she would just have to speak to Caitlyn about this in the morning. For now she was too tired to deal with it, she stared out at the Piltover skyline from the balcony and then stormed past the assassin, choosing to head home and deal with whatever she was feeling in the morning. Vi proceeded to head out of the Buxton manor, as she wove through the remaining guests all she could think about was how Caitlyn had felt pressed against her and how the brunette had responded to her touch. It was a devastatingly distracting thought and she couldn't help the huge grin that spread across her face, one that lasted until much later when she was back in her own bed and fell asleep that night.


	7. Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A step back in time as we discover how Piltover's finest met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well at least one person wanted the next chapter aha, so here it is, I do hope you enjoy it. Any feedback at all would be excellent, even if it is just to say you detest how I describe everything that happens aha, sorry can't help it, fairly certain this is my writing style.

When her alarm clock didn't go off at the usual time of quarter to six in the morning, and Caitlyn awoke roughly five minutes before she was due in at the station, she knew that it was going to be a bad day. Sleepily she cracked one of her eyes open and glared at the digital display, both eyes burst open as she took note of the time and swore loudly. Thankfully because she was so organised, a pile of clothes for the day were laid out neatly on the bedside cabinet, it did not take long for her to get dressed and ready. Although it pained her it seemed that deodorant and gum would have to substitute a shower and brushing her teeth. The sheriff buttoned her blouse whilst scanning the room for her egregiously large hat, glancing down she groaned realising that her buttons were matched up incorrectly. Letting loose an angry torrent of curse words Caitlyn rearranged herself before marching towards the door and slamming it shut, unbeknownst to her a framed photograph was dislodged from the wall by the force, crashing onto the floor.

En route to the station, Caitlyn's mood went from sour to completely thunderous, helped by the slow moving pedestrians blocking the pavement and the seemingly never ending parade of cars that stopped her from crossing the road in a timely manner. By the time she stormed into the police department, Caitlyn was about ready to explode and was grinding her teeth painfully together. She did not see the frightened expression on the face of the officer sat at reception, who regarded the sheriff's narrowed eyes with a wary caution, he had no intention of telling her the latest news about the vigilante and watched as she stepped into the elevator and with an irritated sigh pressed the button repeatedly before the doors closed.

Arriving on the second floor, her already prominent frown became a scowl as she regarded the officers watching her warily from their cubicles. She stopped and raised an eyebrow at the ones nearest to her and surveyed the room with an icy glare, suddenly they lost their interest and hurried back to work post haste. Before anything else could happen she stepped into her office and slammed the door, leaning against it and pressing fingers hard onto her forehead in order to try and focus, she could not believe that she was almost an hour late. Caitlyn scowled and hurried over to her desk throwing herself into the wheeled chair and almost flying across the room, she was seething now, not only was she late but it seemed that everything was trying to piss her off today.

Gripping the desk fiercely the sheriff pulled herself towards it and grabbed the pile of paperwork in her IN box, the monotony of filing might be able to help her calm down. Sighing in a futile attempt to release some frustration before reading the top report, her eyes widened and she pulled it closer to her face in order to make sure she was reading the words correctly. Groaning loudly she swore "for goodness sake!" and continued to scan through the report, it was another one about the vigilante who for the last two months had been rounding up criminals in Piltover and leaving them for the police to find. To be perfectly honest Caitlyn was sick of reading about the person, whilst they clearly meant well it was obvious from the injuries on the suspects and the trail of property destruction that their vigilante was doing more harm than good. Not to mention they would have to be very arrogant to assume they could do a better job than the police, the thought of the paperwork she would have to endure for any of the vigilantes 'arrests' caused her to shudder. 

Absent-mindedly reaching towards the phone it rang unexpectedly, she jumped initially at the sound and gripped the receiver tightly before greeting whoever was on the line with a curt "sheriff." Initially she heard nothing and frowned, then a clipped voice spoke softly "Caitlyn, I trust you've seen the report by now", the sheriff stiffened at the sound of her father's voice and nodded before realising he couldn't see her and muttered "yes father." "The vigilante damaged another property last night, belonging to a friend of mine, he is insistent that the police department do their utmost to apprehend the vigilante. I trust this is the case already?" he questioned with a serious tone, to which Caitlyn coloured out of both frustration and embarrassment. Sometimes he spoke to her in such a manner that she felt like she was eight once again and had been caught trying to sneak another biscuit, composing herself she stated "of course. In fact, I'm taking the case on personally."

The line remained silent and she had to check that he had not hung up on her before "good. I know you will, see you Sunday" rang out from the receiver, it appeared the acerbic tone had gone and now her father just sounded tired. Before she could reply he actually did hang up, placing the phone back with a touch more force than necessary she sighed and placed her head in her hands. So far, this vigilante had been very, well vigilant about staying the hell away from the police, Caitlyn's eyes narrowed as she thought about the possible scenarios. Either, she could wait and see whether the vigilante messed up and left a clue, or she could head out and attempt to shake down answers from the more criminal elements in society. The latter would certainly be more fun, and more effective, with a smirk she grabbed her hat and rifle before jumping up from the chair.

Caitlyn was grinning by the time she pulled her coat on, this was why she had became a police officer in the first place, solving mysteries and apprehending criminals. She always relished an opportunity for some real detective work, it was a lot more interesting than the basket of paperwork awaiting her, glancing at it she resolved to deal with double the load tomorrow. Just as she laid a hand on the doorknob she hesitated, going out to the less savoury districts in Piltover by herself was quite dangerous, most people recognised the sheriff, quite a few wanted revenge. This hesitation lasted only a moment as she figured that if she went incognito and just happened to sit in unsavoury bars, she was positive that a plethora of tipsy men would talk her ear off, some of whom might know information about the vigilante.  
The officers in the Piltover police station had two shocks in the space of fifteen minutes, not only was the profoundly punctual sheriff an hour late but she had only been in her office for a few moments before storming out once again. An officer who was feeling particularly brave called out "hey sheriff, where are you going?", Caitlyn regarded him with a raised eyebrow before stating "I'm going undercover Rollins, don't contact me unless it is an absolute emergency." As the sheriff disappeared into the elevator, Rollins glanced wide eyed at the operatives near him before shrugging and laughing, the phone rang and he answered it promptly, it had unnerved him somewhat that the usually stoic woman had been grinning.

________

"Score!" cried Vi as she regarded the haul in front of her proudly resisting the urge to do a fist pump, she had gotten a lot of useful stuff from her late night heroism. Grinning she grabbed a can of energy drink and downed it, she enjoyed the buzz and quickly ate a granola bar. It had been a day since she had last eaten, though to be fair she was quite used to it having grown up as an orphan in Zaun, it had only been while she had been in her old gang that food was a given. The thought caused a deep aching pang within her chest and she frowned, it had been a while since she had thought about them, gazing over at her giant gauntlets her eyes narrowed and she threw herself down onto the mattress on the floor with a sigh.

She had been really fortunate to catch the guy, Jacob Masters was what his ID said but she knew better than to believe any identification, it was way too easy to make forgeries. Despite his identification, Vi knew who he really was, in Zaun he was known as Jam. Terrible name if you asked her, but she supposed that child traffickers didn't really care what their nickname was. Vi had met the man three times in her life, once when she was a street urchin in Zaun racing between cars and attempting to clean them hurriedly in exchange for money, she was seven and he had been very interested in her. Scowling, Vi remembered that she had hidden underneath a dumpster for three hours to escape his advances, feeling very scared she had then moved to the next city.

The second time was when Vi was fourteen and although he was still interested in her, her gang had persuaded him to leave her be by promising not to kill him if he left, she grinned as she remembered them searching for him anyway but he was long gone. Now she was nineteen and had spent the previous night scouting out a property that she was certain was a trafficking midway house, there were certainly not many of those in the city of progress. Binoculars pressed to her face she had audibly gasped when she saw his face in the upstairs window, emotions overrode her as they always tended to and soon enough she had been in the house.

Vi grinned in her makeshift apartment as she remembered the look of shock on the man's face as her gauntlet had broken his cheek, the bone had snapped with a satisfying crack. He had been knocked out by the impact and was easily slung over her shoulder, then she had left through the convenient hole in the side of the building and made her way to the police station. Sighing contentedly, Vi recognised just how lucky she had been, there could have been other people in the house, not only that she had forgone the balaclava she usually wore. She just hoped that nobody had been able to see her face as of yet, to be fair none of them would recognise her but a pink haired woman with giant gauntlets and a body over her shoulder was bound to be memorable.

Grinning, Vi relived the events of last night as she stretched out upon her makeshift mattress and closed her eyes. During her moonlit stroll, she had kept to quieter streets and hurried, having no desire to be arrested along with her knocked out quarry. A few streets from the station she had whistled and dropped the man onto the ground joking "whoops sorry" when she heard the crunch of his face against the concrete. After removing the goods on his person, she had withdrawn some rope from the small bag on her back and proceeded to tie him more tightly than necessary to a nearby lamppost. Grinning at the memory, Vi remembered then scrawling a hastily written note before taping it with duck tape onto his face, it read 'YOU'RE WELCOME.' The walk back home had been much easier without what looked like a corpse thrown across her shoulder, Vi smiled sleepily at the thought before yawning and drifting off into a well earned slumber. 

________

Caitlyn scowled into her glass of rum, she did not care for the beverage but she had almost been laughed out of the pub asking for water. In fact the barman had wiped tears from his eyes and poured her the drink on the house claiming that she had made his day, how utterly bothersome. Sniffing it derisively, she scanned the room once again hoping for some kind of change, unfortunately for her it was the same patrons as earlier, drunken tramp asleep next to a gambling machine and a group of factory workers whispering around a circular table in a corner. She had been sat in the Blue Flame for the better part of two hours and had so far literally just been sat, alternating between reading the book she had taken with her and staring into her glass of Black Pearl, oh the stuff was ghastly.

Fingering the cover to her book, she had only taken the price sticker off before entering the pub, she recognised that perhaps a romance novel was not the most intellectually stimulating but Caitlyn hoped it would inspire one of the men that were sure to be in here later view her as a vapid woman and perhaps impart some much needed information. From speaking to a few of her contacts in the seedier districts of Piltover she had learned the Blue Flame was the pub to be in if one wanted information, due in part to the large criminal element that frequented the establishment.

Sighing she flung it open and begun to read from where she had previously been, so far the dashing young gentleman had just taken the clumsy heroine on a date and it had been hideous but he was still interested of course. The sheriff shivered for dramatic effect thinking that the love interest reminded her very much of her own suitor Jayce, she hoped that the protagonist in the story managed to evade his advances before leading a successful career in law enforcement.

Unbeknownst to the brunette, the person she was in fact searching for had just entered the public house and was frozen in the doorway staring perplexed at the stranger, wide eyed she gestured to the barman and pointed at the woman reading a book. In response he shrugged and mouthed "uptown", Vi grinned feeling the tattoo crease on her cheek and immediately pushed the hair out of her face, attempting to smooth it once she had caught sight of the woman's face and recognised that she was in fact stunning. She wandered over to the bar whilst keeping an eye on the attractive woman still engrossed in the book she was reading, Vi stopped at the bar and received her usual without even asking, she smirked at Tom behind the bar and whispered “wish me luck” before walking towards the brunette.

Caitlyn had not heard the footsteps approaching as she had just gotten to a particularly dramatic scene and even though she knew it was just romantic drivel, she needed to see whether Toby was going to forgive Spencer for having a moment with the suave doctor. Suddenly a pink haired woman slid next to her with a charming smile and a glass of rum in her hand, the woman leaned over her shoulder and began to read the page she was on whispering "any good?" Caitlyn froze in place, shocked at the sudden intrusion of her personal space and glared to her left finding the woman grinning at her with a wide grin and eyes alight. The sheriff could not help noticing that not only was she clearly full of herself but also that she was, well kind of attractive, you know if androgynous and arrogant was your type.

Grinning to the point that it felt like Vi's face was going to split in two, she regarded the serious woman in front of her with a raised eyebrow, she could not believe her luck today, not only had she apprehended a real piece of shit but now there was a beautiful woman in the dive bar for once. Caitlyn regarded her coolly before commenting "you're a bit close aren't you?" and narrowing her eyes at the woman only inches from her face, Vi grinned before asking "come here often?" and winking. The sheriff rolled her eyes and gazed deadpan at her before stating "often enough evidently" and taking a sip of her vile rum without the slightest hesitation. Caitlyn eyed the other woman's hands warily, the gauntlets upon her arms were very unusual but some people were quite eccentric, they could just be an awful fashion accessory. 

The pink haired woman grinned before stating "just so you know whose number will be in your phone this evening, the names Vi, stands for Vi-" "violating personal space, yeah I got that" finished the sheriff who eyed the grinning woman with distaste. Vi stared at the brunette before bursting into a raucous fit of laughter and smashing her fist against the wooden table, Caitlyn watched her silently transfixed, this woman was not only strange but she was also trying her patience. Vi wiped a tear from her eye and murmured "you're feisty babe, I like that" whilst leaning in closer to the brunette. The sheriff was utterly shocked by her forwardness and pulled herself further from Vi exclaiming "babe?" in a high pitched tone, aghast at the all too intimate nickname.

Staring bewildered at the still grinning Vi, Caitlyn tried to work out whether she would be able to plead temporary insanity in order to get away with murdering the confident fool next to her. Unable to stomach another flirtatious advance Caitlyn pushed her chair back and stood abruptly from the table, turning to stride away from the pink haired woman. A thought came unbidden to her and she paused before wheeling around and demanding “what makes you so sure you would get my number anyway? I'm surprised you can even get through doorways with a head that massive." Vi gaped at the brunette in stunned silence, she had never been rebuffed before quite so effectively, it led to the opposite effect of what Caitlyn had wanted as the pink haired woman found herself now very much interested in her. "I've been told that I'm charming" whispered Vi as she smirked up at the brunette, Caitlyn snorted indignantly replying “it doesn't count when you talk to your reflection.”

“Ouch” winced Vi, whilst placing one of her hands over her heart and clutching exaggeratedly, “and here I was, just trying to make a friend in a new city.” Furrowing her brows and pouting, Vi really was trying to entreat sympathy from the stoic brunette. Her words piqued Caitlyn's interest however, even if this woman was truly insufferable, she was at current the only person willingly speaking to her. Not only that she was clearly well received to be new to Piltover and already a regular at the seediest dive bar in the city, perhaps the sheriff might be able to gain some much needed intelligence pertaining to the vigilante. Caitlyn tried her best to ignore the smug grin across Vi's face the moment she sat herself back down, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the other woman. Caitlyn sat scrutinising Vi for a few seconds, after which the sheriff promptly stated “strange place for a Zaunite to move to” and relished the outright surprise that manifested across Vi's face. 

It was obvious to the sheriff that her companion for the evening was unsettled by the comment, Vi was currently regarding Caitlyn rather suspiciously. If Caitlyn had accurately gauged where she was originally from in the short time they had been speaking, it was obvious that the brunette was very intelligent and shrewd. “Suppose it is” replied Vi tersely, narrowing her eyes at the unperturbed woman next to her, before running a hand through unruly pink hair. “Never really liked Zaun though” she continued, gripping the glass in front of her and staring into the contents as she swilled the dark liquid, Caitlyn watched her intently, clearly her past was a sore point. Anxious to change the subject so as to not spook the nervous looking woman in front of her, Caitlyn asked “how long have you been in Piltover?” and was rewarded with a smile. “Ah, it's coming up to two months I think” responded Vi airily, taking a moment to down the remainder of her rum and waggling her eyebrows suggestively “I actually live near here, so if you ever need a place to stay...?”

How strange, thought Caitlyn as she rolled her eyes at the other woman, a fair few of her officers who were native to Piltover felt uncomfortable even visiting the Arant district. Yet Vi had only been in the city for a short amount of time and was already very confident living in the most impoverished area of Piltover. “Want one?” asked Vi politely, gesturing to the empty glass within her hand and with a smirk upon her face, Caitlyn stared at her for a moment before inclining her head slightly. Vi tried very hard not to outright beam at the woman's response, if she wanted another drink then she must be enjoying her company. Leaning in close to the perplexed brunette, Vi stated “told you I was charming” with a wink, before turning to walk over to the bar. Caitlyn scowled at the implications behind Vi's comment, that woman was delusional if she thought that Caitlyn was even the faintest bit interested in her. Scoffing at the thought, the sheriff glared after the pink haired woman, trying to ignore the way her cheeks were flushed. 

In almost no time at all, Vi had appeared next to Caitlyn once again, brandishing a glass of white wine at the surprised sheriff stating “figured you weren't one for rum” with a wide grin. “Did you?” replied Caitlyn coolly, regarding the other woman curiously as she took a dainty sip of the light liquid, Vi smirked at her once again before taking a swig of her own drink. “Obviously you're a woman of great taste” explained Vi, gesturing to herself and continuing “why else would you be spending time with me?” Unable to hide her groan, Caitlyn rolled her eyes once again, snapping “you are unbelievable, isn't it tiring being so full of yourself?” Her scowl intensified when Vi started laughing, asking “so, how'd you know I'm from Zaun?” before downing some of her rum and raising an inquisitive eyebrow. The brunette regarded her curiously, weighing up her options. On the one hand, her deductive reasoning might reveal slightly too much about her real profession, but it would be oh so satisfying to see the look on Vi's face. 

“For a start you have recently came to Piltover, and over half of the people who migrate come from Zaun so the odds are good. People from Zaun tend to be self centred, you clearly think a lot of yourself and even have a tattoo of your own name upon your face, something that is very popular among the criminal element oddly enough. Then you've moved straight to the Arant district which is one of the more impoverished in Piltover, either you needed to move immediately and didn't do any research or you have lived in far worse conditions. Both of which lend me to believe you have came from Zaun.” Caitlyn finished her explanation with a satisfied smirk, taking a sip of her wine and thoroughly enjoying the gobsmacked look upon Vi's face. Blue eyes were wide underneath raised eyebrows and her mouth was agape, jaw dropped in all its entirety, Caitlyn couldn't help raising one of her own eyebrows at the astonished expression. Finishing her wine, Caitlyn gestured towards Vi once again stating “plus your gauntlets are obviously hextechnology and no one in Piltover would create anything so ghastly, so they must be from Zaun.”

“Hey don't insult my babies!” snapped Vi, jerked from her stupor by the perceived attack on her gauntlets, and frowned overtly at the brunette in something that looked suspiciously like a pout. Caitlyn rolled her eyes once again but could not help the giggle that burst forth at the childish and furiously endearing gesture, though she stemmed it hurriedly when Vi grinned at her. “Okay, you got me but you think I'm funny” stated Vi arrogantly, brushing herself off with one of the giant gauntlets and finishing her drink with the other. Tutting loudly at the statement, Caitlyn glanced around the room once again, surveying it quickly only to find that nothing had changed, clearly it was a slow day, just her luck. Though Caitlyn was merely taking stock of her surroundings, a natural habit of hers, Vi watched the brunette glance disinterested around the room and grimaced, she definitely didn't want the pretty woman leaving. “My turn” began Vi enthusiastically, leaning in closer to Caitlyn and stating confidently “I bet I can figure you out too, I'm a pretty good judge of character.” 

“Oh are you?” retorted Caitlyn dryly with a raised eyebrow, sitting up straighter in an attempt to gain some distance from the grinning woman still leaning in close towards her. The grin upon Vi's face intensified at the question, her eyes narrowed as she pulled further back in order to better survey the other woman. Caitlyn bristled indignantly as she watched Vi's eyes rove across her, if the pink haired woman wasn't being so overtly obnoxious in order to get a reaction, the sheriff might have been unable to hide how irritated she was. As it was the two watched one another silently for a moment or two, finally Caitlyn snapped “are you quite done?” and Vi nodded happily, rubbing her hands together in front of her face. “Well for a start you seem used to getting your own way, are well spoken, and a bit posh. You're serious, and it's kinda like your every word is calculated, so I'm guessing you're from a wealthy family, possibly a parent in politics, very formal.” The sheriff tried very hard to school her expression to one of indifference, so Vi wouldn't know just how close to the bone she had been, clearly the woman was far more astute than she had given her credit for. Vi however did not miss the way that the brunette had stiffened in her seat, nor the way her eyes had flashed momentarily, the non verbal reactions clued her in that she was on the right track. 

After contemplating the stiff brunette for a few seconds, Vi stated cautiously “it's weird, from that piltie accent it's obvious you're from up the hill, but you're just casually sat in a pretty rough Bilgewater pub, either you've been here before or you don't scare easily.” The two regarded one another for a moment, Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at the statement before shrugging nonchalantly and replying “why can't it be both?” and Vi smirked at the response before laughing. “Okay, two more points to Vi then” began the pink haired woman, grinning widely at the brunette now, “speaking of names, you haven't told me yours yet.” “No I have not” quipped Caitlyn, standing from the table with a smirk, and striding towards the bathroom with a polite “excuse me.” Vi watched the brunette hungrily as she disappeared from view, before letting out an exuberant fist pump once she was certain no one was watching. Vi launched herself from her seat and swaggered over to the bar, grinning obnoxiously at the older woman across the bar, exclaiming “hey Tony!” with a giant wave of a hextech gauntlet. “Someone's in a good mood” noted Tony teasingly, raising an eyebrow at the massive grin and shaking her head at the dreamy expression across Vi's face.

“Ah, why wouldn't I be? Today is going great” stated Vi happily, leaning her back against the bar in order to keep an eye upon the ladies toilets and the mystery brunette who would hopefully reappear soon. “You'd better be paying off your tab soon” warned Tony, her tone jovial as she slid a glass of rum into the waiting grip of the pink haired woman, who responded with a wink. “I've got a good feeling about this one” explained Vi whilst taking a sip of her drink, gaze alternating between an amused Tony and the still bereft door, continuing “she's a bit prissy but she's gorgeous ya'know, and a right challenge.” “Mm hmm” replied Tony, thoroughly entertained by the infatuated behaviours of the young woman, noticing that Vi continued staring across the room she asked innocently “so what is Caitlyn drinking tonight?” The effect of her words was instantaneous, as she had expected they would be, Vi froze for a moment before her head whipped towards Tony so fast that the older woman could almost hear the crack. “How do you know her?” demanded Vi, focus entirely upon the bemused Tony, who shrugged, nonchalantly stating “sometimes I forget you're new to Piltover, haven't you noticed how quiet it is?”

At this Vi turned to survey the room, there were only a handful of people inside the Blue Flame, making the place look almost deserted. Scrunching her face up in confusion, the pink haired woman noted that this was very unusual for this time of day, facing a bemused Tony once again she asked quizzically “what's that gotta do with anything?” The bar woman laughed, placing a hand upon the counter she gestured towards the still closed bathroom door and stated “your friends been scaring away all my customers, figure I'll go bankrupt if she's here much longer.” Eyes narrowing out of sheer puzzlement, Vi grimaced confusedly at Tony, indicating that she still had no idea what the other woman was going on about. “If she's here, that means she's looking for something” pondered Tony, glancing thoughtfully across the room, “Oi!” interrupted Vi indignantly, waving a massive gauntlet in front of her face, demanding “who is she?” The older woman raised an eyebrow at the aggressive tone, but acquiesced all the same, clarifying “Caitlyn Buxton, but most people know her as the sheriff of Piltover.” 

________

Caitlyn stood at that moment assessing her reflection in the utterly smeared mirror within the bathroom, not that there was much point considering she could just about see dark hair and pale skin. Huffing irritably she narrowed her eyes in distaste at the general state of the room, she didn't know why she had even been trying to check her appearance, it wasn't like she wanted to impress anyone, least of all that arrogant – a loud and incessant trilling emanated from the pocket of Caitlyn's overcoat, surprising her and ending the internal monologue. After quickly scanning the stalls to make sure that the room was empty, she brought the device to her face and answered with a stiff “hello.” “Sheriff” answered the voice hesitantly, Caitlyn rolled her eyes and ground her teeth unconsciously, whatever Rollins had to say had better be good, “I know you said you didn't want to be contacted, but we've had a lead on the vigilante.” Raising her eyebrows in surprise, the sheriff kept her eyes trained on the door, she definitely didn't want anyone to overhear this conversation. “We've had an analysis of the crime scene come back, apparently the break in the wall wasn't caused by a vehicle like we anticipated. It's gotta be untested hextechnology” explained Rollins in a harsh whisper, continuing “there are indents in the steel that look like knuckles, it's almost like someone punched through the wall.” 

Confusion marred Caitlyn's features as she absorbed this information, frowning right up until the word 'punched' where a flood of understanding rushed through her, and her heart seized for a moment. Hextechnology, knuckles, vigilantism, arrogance, two months. “...sheriff?” enquired Rollins hesitantly, not used to his otherwise forthcoming boss being speechless, Caitlyn snapped herself back to reality stating “you are not to inform anyone else, I am handling it.” After an immediate response of “yes sheriff” there was a click and then silence, Caitlyn stood frozen, stunned at the implications of this new information. There was no way this could be a coincidence, the facts were staring her straight in the face, Vi had to be the vigilante, and the sheriff could not let her continue. Sighing, she ran a hand through her dark hair and exhaled as she stared at the bathroom door, where the very woman she had been searching for sat waiting for her, it certainly transpired that not immediately rebuffing the confident fool had been fortunate. Though she was now at an impasse, technically Vi was a wanted criminal and usually the sheriff did not deal in technicalities but something just felt off about arresting her. 

It was fairly obvious from the facts she had ascertained about Vi earlier that the woman was seeking a new life in Piltover, clearly fleeing from some sort of criminal group and attempting, in her own idiotic and frustratingly arrogant way, to help. Caitlyn scowled and only then noticed that she had been gripping her brow tensely between fingertips, an unconscious habit that only occurred when she was stressed, exhaling deeply the brunette frowned deep in thought. Considering how new Vi was to the city of Piltover and how she had not been avoiding the sheriff but actively engaging with her, it was safe to say that the vigilante had no idea of her identity. Caitlyn supposed there was no harm in speaking to the woman for a little bit longer, it might transpire that Vi was irredeemable, attacking criminals through some personal vendetta or acting as a hired woman, apprehending targets for a paying bidder. At least if that was the case, Caitlyn would feel much more vindicated in arresting the woman, and if Vi does turn out to be a well meaning but thick headed vigilante...then a different approach altogether might be needed. 

________

“No” stated Tony flatly, barring the entrance to the Blue Flame with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow, moving herself to blockade the pink haired woman currently trying to wriggle past her. “Come on Tony, I gotta go” protested Vi, still attempting to fit her bulky frame past the small woman stood glaring at her, whining somewhat she continued “you know she's after me, it's gotta be bad if they sent the sheriff after me!” “Running is the worst thing ya can do” refuted Tony, gripping one of Vi's arms and pulling her back to the table that she had been sat at earlier, though Vi protested, she held no real malice towards the older woman. Tony had been looking out for her for a very long time, if the ex pirate believed this to be the best course of action, then Vi could try and quash her instincts that were screaming for her to get as far away from here as possible. After making sure that Vi was seated once again, Tony kept her gaze upon the bathroom door whilst explaining “Caitlyn only comes here when she has no leads, she obviously wants information about the vigilante, so she doesn't know who it is. It'll be obvious if you run off.” The tightness in Vi's chest subsided, of course that was the case, surely the sheriff would have arrested her by now had she known her identity, all she needed to do was feed her some false information and there would be no need for a fight with Piltover's Finest.

A tut interrupted Vi's internal thoughts and she turned to find Tony glaring at her, “I told you it was a stupid idea, drawing so much attention to yourself” the older woman hissed, after a short intake of breath her entire demeanour changed and she smiled at Vi before wheeling away from the table. Vi watched her go uncertainly, furrowing her brows as she watched the woman stride back towards the bar, “shall I get us another drink?” asked an all too familiar voice. Azure eyes widened comically as Vi turned immediately to face the woman she now knew as the sheriff, damn everything, Caitlyn was still beautiful as ever, looking completely nonplussed as she regarded the open jaw and surprised demeanour of the pink haired woman. “I'll take that as a yes” replied Caitlyn tartly to herself, raising an eyebrow indignantly at the flustered Vi and heading towards the bar with a confident gait. It was so obvious thought Vi, no one that prissy or well spoken would feel so at ease in a place like this unless they were very confident in themselves, there was no way the sheriff of Piltover wasn't a little bit arrogant too. Vi observed the interaction between Caitlyn and Tony at the bar with some apprehension, but nothing untoward happened and she breathed a sigh of relief as the brunette headed back towards the table with some drinks.

Caitlyn sat down after placing their respective drinks in front of one another, Vi took note that the brunette had chosen a non alcoholic beverage for herself whilst choosing another glass of the strongest rum for Vi. The two regarded one another for a moment silently, Caitlyn broke first, reaching out to grasp her squash and sipping it daintily as she tried to reconcile the behavioural change of the woman across from her, Vi was far more conservative, though she had to admit that the ostentatious flirting had been beginning to get a bit old. A commotion at the front entrance proved to be a welcome distraction for the both of them, a group of rowdy men had just entered the Blue Flame and were talking loudly amongst themselves whilst marching over to the bar. One of the men, an older blonde, scanned the room, obviously searching for someone, however once he caught sight of the brunette sat across from Vi his face blanched. Immediately he turned to the other men, whispering harshly as all of them glanced across at the woman now glaring at them with narrowed eyes, within a moment all of them had left leaving the pub quiet once again. 

“You'd think he'd seen a ghost” commented Vi dryly, watching the woman across from her stiffen, reaching for her rum she continued “almost like he was scared of you.” Caitlyn bristled at the suggestion, rebuffing the idea altogether with a statement of “he was looking at you obviously. You're the one sat there with giant mechanical fists.” A snort followed the comment and Caitlyn grit her teeth as Vi laughed at the brunette. The sheriff felt an uncomfortable drop in her stomach as she recognised that the smirk upon the pink haired woman's face was almost knowing. “Well” stated Vi as she stood from the table and placed her tattered jacket back on, “it's been fun but I've gotta go.” “You can't” snapped Caitlyn instantly, rising up also and placing her hands upon the table with a clatter, “I mean, I've been enjoying our time together.” Vi responded with an incredulous raised eyebrow and instead began to down the remainder of her drink, Caitlyn started to panic, if Vi left now then she would have no choice but to arrest her. As sheriff she could not just let the vigilantism continue, deciding to try one more thing in the hopes of keeping Vi talking just a little longer she blurted out “you don't even know my name yet.”

“Who says?” replied Vi immediately, crossing her arms over her chest and pausing to enjoy the irritated expression upon the brunette's face, “you did, roughly five minutes ago” responded Caitlyn uncertainly, a little thrown by the comment. “Hmm, can't recall” stated Vi, her tone teasing and thoroughly succeeding in irritating the sheriff further, Caitlyn glowered at the smirking woman, placing her arms upon her hips and scowling. Enunciating each word out of sheer annoyance, Caitlyn asserted “I have a very good memory, you literally said-” “I said you hadn't told me your name yet, not that I didn't already know it” interrupted Vi, the smirk intensifying upon her face. Gritting her teeth the sheriff offered a painful imitation of a smile, uttering in a harsh whisper “you are the most frustrating person I've ever met, and you are lying.” Vi laughed, before refuting “nah, you're Caitlyn, otherwise known as the sheriff” and enjoying the absolute look of abject astonishment upon the brunette's face. Caitlyn regarded the other woman shrewdly, even though she had been shocked by Vi's admission that she knew her identity, there was absolutely no way that Vi had known that when she first appeared and attempted flirting with her. Considering how desperately the pink haired woman had been attempting to leave after her return from the bathroom, it was fairly obvious what had transpired. 

Narrowing her eyes at the still smirking Vi, Caitlyn strode forward until she was close enough to feel the warmth radiating from the other woman. Jabbing an accusatory finger into her solar plexus the sheriff stated “for a start, you must be either very brave or very stupid speaking to me like that, secondly you didn't know who I was before, that barwoman told you didn't she?” “Pshaw nah” replied Vi, sniffing exaggeratedly and crossing her arms over her chest, Caitlyn smirked at the action, recognising it for the defensive gesture that it was. “You know I'm right” whispered the sheriff haughtily, enjoying the pout upon Vi's face, it was definitely more attractive than that insufferable smirk, Caitlyn paused to shake her head and dislodge that bizarre thought. “So ah, why are you here then?” deflected Vi, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck and occasionally darting her eyes towards the bar, where Caitlyn was fairly certain that bar woman was watching the two of them. “Why don't you sit down and I might tell you” quipped the brunette, turning to stalk back into the seat she had been occupying earlier, Caitlyn couldn't help smirking at how startled Vi looked, she certainly hadn't been expecting another conversation. To be perfectly honest, Vi had never felt this confused before, all she had wanted to do was chat up a rather attractive woman, not end up in this strange date/interrogation hybrid. 

It was with great effort that Vi forcefully ignored the screaming protests from her mind as she took the seat across from the smirking officer. If Caitlyn hadn't arrested her yet then maybe Tony was right, it couldn't hurt to throw a few false leads for the sheriff to follow. “So as your friend might have already told you” began Caitlyn, gesturing towards the woman behind the bar, who was watching far too inconspicuously, while cleaning an already pristine glass, “I am the sheriff of Piltover, and I was hoping to find the person attacking people in Piltover.” “Criminals” corrected the pink haired woman immediately, taking a sip of her rum in lieu of acknowledging the fierce glare from the brunette. “Everyone deserves the same basic rights, including criminals” stated Caitlyn tartly, sniffing derisively before continuing “in fact those accused of crimes are the most deserving, it is after all innocent until proven guilty.” Steadfastly ignoring the way Vi rolled her eyes in response Caitlyn continued tersely “we can't all go around doling out vigilante justice, the reason there is a justice system in the first place is to ensure everyone gets treated fairly.” “Oh come on!” interjected Vi, holding her palm up in disbelief as she gestured towards the frowning brunette, “you can't seriously believe that!” 

The narrow slits that had been Caitlyn's eyes were enough of a response for Vi, however she continued to either bravely or very foolishly depending upon your point of view, laugh in the face of outright fury. “I mean I figured you were sheriff just cos you liked the money, but you” at this Vi broke off again chuckling as she took another sip of her rum “you really believe all that garbage about doing the right thing and serving the people, it's kind of adorable.” Stunned out of sheer disbelief, Caitlyn regarded the laughing woman across from her with a painful imitation of a smile upon her face, the sight of which served to quell Vi's otherwise high spirits. A touch more serious the pink haired woman elaborated “the systems rigged and you know it, lets say the two of us got arrested-” “never” interrupted Caitlyn aghast at the very implication. Vi waved the indignation away continuing “say we did, I'm an ex criminal from Zaun and your daddy is obviously some big wig politician, are you telling me we'd get the same treatment?” The brunette hissed through gritted teeth “everyone in this city is held to the same rules and laws-” “yeah, I got that” interrupted Vi once again, wisely choosing to ignore the frankly quite dangerous way that Caitlyn narrowed her eyes. “Lets be honest though, it takes the police ages to get enough evidence to convict people, if they ever do at all! I know a lot of gang members from Zaun that keep crossing into Piltover and by the time Piltover's finest has caught up, they're long gone.” 

“So what?” snapped Caitlyn, unable to contain the rage coursing through her at the moronic and far too honest statement, slamming her palm upon the top of the table to accentuate her point. “We should all just go around lobbing out vigilante justice? It might be frustrating but following the correct protocol is the right thing to do, it ensures fairness and equality dammit!” Eyes wide and mouth agape, Vi stared surprised at the other woman, finding the furious indignation to be very attractive if she was honest with herself. Unabated Caitlyn launched into another monologue “even if you might damn well know that someone has done something illegal, it is not upon any one person to decide what punishment fits the crime, that is revenge Vi and it helps no one.” Although it was probably not best for Vi to imagine other scenarios where Caitlyn was just as hot and bothered and shouting her name, it was difficult for the pink haired woman to ignore what her consciousness so desperately wanted to push. Caitlyn breathed out harshly, narrowing her eyes at the slightly glazed expression across Vi's face, if that absolute idiot hadn't listened to a word she said then Caitlyn was going to drag her the entire way to the police station. Seeming to shake herself from a daze, Vi refuted “this isn't about revenge, it's about being a better person. It's about doing what the law can't, recognising the Zaunites and stopping them from destroying this city.”

During the lull in conversation following Vi's pensive statement, Caitlyn regarded the other woman keenly, it was profoundly obvious that the ex criminal was attempting to make a new life for herself in Piltover. Not only that but she clearly felt very strongly about protecting the innocent and bringing criminals to justice, plus she was honest almost to a fault. Dark eyes focused upon the gauntlets leaning haphazardly atop the table between them, they were like nothing the sheriff had ever seen before. The joints and rivets were different to the rest of the gauntlet, implying that they had been salvaged from other hextechnology. They were also very well maintained, Vi must take great pride in them, indicating that it was the pink haired woman herself who had either created them or modified them. Thoughts whirred through Caitlyn's mind, all drawing to the same conclusion, Vi was intelligent, honest, able to handle herself physically, had a far greater knowledge of the criminal element harassing Piltover, hoping for a fresh start... During the moments silence, Vi's brain had caught up to what precisely she had just explained to the sheriff, and her face blanched. It might have not been a confession in the conventional sense but it would be obvious to the woman across from her that Vi was speaking as if she were the vigilante. Clenching her eyes tightly for a moment and taking in a deep breath, Vi launched herself from the table and ran towards the entrance, upending the table on her way. 

“Vi wait!” demanded Caitlyn shrilly, dodging backwards from the drinks currently falling to the ground and storming after the obviously startled woman. Due in part to Vi's bulky gauntlets, she had to slow down to manoeuvre around the other tables, Tony would have absolutely battered her had she broken all the furniture, regardless of the reason. Caitlyn had no such issues due to having greater agility and finesse, within seconds she had vaulted herself from a handstand upon one of the chairs, landing in front of both the entrance door and a shocked Vi. Crossing her arms over her chest the brunette raised an eyebrow and stated “I know you're the vigilante, but I don't want to arrest you.” Vi raised an unsure eyebrow at the sheriff, panting heavily before stating "I'm listening" and leaning against the bar counter with her arms crossed. The two stared at one another for a few minutes until Caitlyn finally spoke "I can't let you continue your vigilante actions, not only is it a paperwork nightmare but also the police are now aware and they would certainly expect me to arrest you right now." Vi remained silent and continued to stare at the brunette, she had no intention of going quietly but for some reason she couldn't help but trust her, it wasn't like she had much of a choice. Caitlyn continued with "I think that you've been helping us, in your own way, and that you mean well. To be perfectly honest we could really use someone like you on the force, I suppose what I'm saying is that instead of arresting you why don't you work for me?"

Shocked laughter emanated from behind the bar, both women turned to face Tony who was red faced and mouthing 'wow' to herself, Vi gestured for the woman to leave by glaring between the older woman and the warehouse door. The sounds of her laughter were still heard even as she disappeared from view, groaning Vi ran a hand over her face, grunting “sorry.” Caitlyn couldn't help smiling at the obviously embarrassed woman, replying softly “it's okay” and waiting for a reaction from Vi as to her proposition. “Wait, you're not serious are you?” questioned Vi uncertainly, regarding the other woman suspiciously, when Caitlyn did nothing but nod her head a grin broke across Vi's face. “You can't be serious!” demanded Vi incredulously, reaching out to grab Caitlyn's shoulders and attempting to shake the truth from her, it was just too good to believe. Caitlyn was shocked by both Vi's childlike exuberance and the fact she was still being shaken by the pink haired woman, stuttering she spoke "I'm s-s-serious!" before pulling herself from Vi's firm grip on her shoulders. Scowling at the still grinning woman, Caitlyn continued "you're more familiar with the criminal element in Piltover than me, I think you'd be very useful to be honest, especially considering the influx of criminals from Zaun we're dealing with. Not only that but from speaking to you earlier, I feel like you do care about what happens to this city and the people within it, which means we have a common goal." Vi stared incredulously at the brunette before bursting into a fit of laughter, wiping a tear from her eye she stated 'so you're telling me that instead of being arrested, I can work for the police, beat up criminals and get paid for it."

"Well you'll have to be a lot more responsible, fill in your fair share of paperwork, and you will have to answer to me" Caitlyn responded with a sombre expression, she wasn't sure what Vi thought of her suggestion but the fool wouldn't stop grinning so it was very likely well received. "Alright" agreed Vi with a smirk before continuing "on one condition", the sheriff sighed and raised an eyebrow in response, the pink haired woman leaned into the brunette and whispered "I don't work for anyone, I work with you. We should be partners." Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at the obvious double entendre and sighed, harrumphing good naturedly at Vi she regarded the woman in front of her and the idea itself.

Due in part to being an only child, Caitlyn had never particularly enjoyed the company of others, she had certainly longed for it when she was very young but now she was quite content to spend time with herself. It would be very strange for her to work with somebody as a partner, even when she was ascending through the ranks in the police force, her superiors had never matched her with another trainee, it was well known that the Buxton heiress would respond badly. The idea of having a partner, especially one quite as brash and uncouth as Vi was a difficult one to swallow, but she supposed if it meant having her skills on the force and not behind bars, it might be worth it.

Honestly Vi knew that she was pushing her already fabulous luck by demanding to work as partners with the sheriff, she had already been offered a job doing what she loved without the risks of being arrested but she really wanted to get to know the brunette better. Although she'd heard of Caitlyn's reputation as a cold hard bitch, Vi couldn't really see it from their brief time together, though she recognised that the sheriff was quite serious, it just meant she'd have a lot of fun winding her up. "Deal" stated Caitlyn with a slight smile, interrupting the pink haired woman's internal monologue, who raised both of her eyebrows a little surprised at the sheriffs agreement and grinned widely. "Sweet!" she cried, pumping her fist into the air exuberantly, she pulled the sheriff into a tight hug and exclaimed "don't worry, I won't let you down cupcake."

"...I beg your pardon...?" the brunette whispered harshly in response, what on earth was this nickname about, pushing herself away and glaring angrily at the still grinning Vi, Caitlyn scowled and placed both her hands on her hips. "Well, don't you have those yordle traps with the cupcakes in them?" protested the much taller woman, Caitlyn frowned further and stated "yes I do, that doesn't mean you can call me cupcake, are we clear?" "Crystal clear cupcake" laughed Vi as she punched the brunette on the shoulder light heartedly and jumped over the bar counter, facing the brunette with an ecstatic grin "how about I get us another drink to celebrate?" she quipped. Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at her and stated "I can still arrest you, just so you know" to which Vi laughed and commented "yeah but trust me, you'd miss me too much" finishing with a wink. The sheriff sighed and shook her head before exhaling deeply, unconsciously gripping the bridge of her nose she wondered just how on earth she was going to explain this to her father.


	8. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consequences the day after the Snowdown celebrations, Katarina spends the day being a right wind up merchant and Caitlyn has a visit from the only person in Piltover more serious than she is.

"It's not my fault she's such a prude" protested Katarina in between dodging blows from the disgruntled enforcer, the redhead was sweating quite profusely as the two of them sparred in a boxing gym. She was only visiting Piltover for a few more days after attending the Buxton snowdown celebration as a delegate of both Noxus and her father General Du Couteau, until returning she intended to find out precisely what was happening between Vi and her all too serious sheriff. With a grin Katarina recognised that it had been fairly obvious when she interrupted the two of them the previous evening, you don't usually press your friends against a railing and kiss them, well she did but that wasn't the point. Vi grunted at her comment before launching into another volley of jabs and crosses, she loved boxing, a sport where you punched the other person into submission was perfect.

It also helped her to vent some of her frustrations, glancing up at the redhead who was as of yet continuing to evade Vi's blows, dammit it was like trying to catch that cursed scuttle crab, the enforcer groaned and narrowed her eyes. She knew that Katarina had done nothing wrong really, it just didn't help that her interruption had caused Caitlyn to disappear instead of continuing to make out with her. "Hey I already said I was sorry, lighten up" stated the assassin who had watched Vi's face contort into a deep frown, the two knew each other well enough that she knew the enforcer was furiously thinking about the previous evening. They had met as champions on the rift and had hit it off from the beginning, both were quite prone to using violence and could care less what others thought of them. 

Even though the two of them lived quite far from one another, whenever they did meet up it was like nothing had changed, going straight back to joking with one another about either the last person they had personally maimed or slept with. Katarina knew that something was off months ago, it was as if Vi had completely calmed down once she had met the sheriff, although the new enforcer was all too happy to talk about her latest arrest, the conversation would immediately change tack whenever Katarina mentioned her latest conquest in the bedroom, or you know boat, wherever really. The assassin was not the sort of person you could tie down and had many lovers, though she favoured Garen most of all, a devilish grin spread across her face as she thought about a certain piece of his anatomy.

BANG, with a crash the redhead was knocked backwards onto the mat and landed heavily on her back, "ow" she stated ineffectually rubbing the left side of her cheek and jaw, that was definitely going to bruise. Vi appeared over her with a huge grin "you got distracted" the enforcer sang in an obnoxious voice, whilst taking her overly large boxing gloves off and extending a hand to help her fallen friend. Katarina scowled as she took it letting herself be lifted from the ground, not like she could help it, the pink haired woman was abnormally strong from lugging the heavy gauntlets she always wore and pulled her up with little effort. "I was thinking about last night" she murmured, smirking at the fearful azure eyes that widened following her comment, sighing exaggeratedly she continued "other things did happen besides you kissing 'cupcake' just so you know...it was kind of hot though" the redhead trailed off with a lecherous smirk.

"Ow what the hell" cried Katarina as a huge boxing glove bounced off her head, the enforcer had thrown it at her with unwarranted viciousness and was now scowling at the redhead. "You definitely didn't get any last night" stated the assassin with a chuckle, Vi chose to ignore the comment and proceeded to grab her kit bag and head towards the door. Looking over her shoulder the pink haired woman sighed exclaiming "you know, I can get a drink by myself" before storming out of the gym, Katarina rolled her eyes at the comment but recognised that she might be going a bit far. It was no secret that she did not like Caitlyn, the sheriff was hot and all but she looked miserable all the time, the appeal was completely lost on her but she supposed what mattered was that Vi liked her.

Katarina called "hey wait up" and chased after the clearly irritated enforcer stood waiting outside the entrance doors. Once the assassin caught sight of Vi's scowling face she laughed and leaned into her whispering "perhaps if I talk in an uptown accent you'll be more responsive darling", when she received a disgruntled shove in response Katarina relented "I'm sorry, it's just fun teasing you, don't worry I'll cool it." Vi narrowed her eyes and grunted in response, silent for a moment regarding the apologetic looking redhead, it was an act of course and she knew it but as long as Katarina stopped being such a jerk she was willing to play along. "Fine" the enforcer stated whilst crossing her arms, she continued with a short "but you'd better behave yourself or I'll take you back to Noxus myself", the assassin followed her towards the Blue Flame with a grin muttering "I'd like to see you try!"

________

An ear splitting shriek roused Caitlyn from her fitful dreaming, she had been having a particularly horrendous nightmare about her teeth falling out, she knew that meant anxiety was plaguing her sleep as well as her waking hours and she sighed into the pillow clutched tightly in her arms. Pulling away from it she noted the dark smudge that now stained the otherwise pristine pillow, frowning she remembered flinging herself into bed when she arrived home without removing her make up, oh she was certain she probably looked ghastly now. Narrowing her eyes, she recognised the loud noise as a song and groaned both realising that Vi must have changed her alarm and at the sheer arrogance of the woman.

'...like a boomerang who never gives up, she flies in circles til she hits you and you're biting the dust...' glaring bleary eyed at the source of the noise she found it emanating from her phone atop the bedside cabinet and groped blindly for it desperately wishing to cease the shrieking interruption. Sweet silence greeted her as she succeeded, glancing angrily at her phone she noted the dozen miscalls and flung it across the room before nuzzling back into the safety of her quilt with furrowed brows. The vast majority of those were bound to be Vi, though at least one was definitely her mother, considering how she had left the previous evening in a bit of a state. To be perfectly honest she had been tipsy and terrified at what occurred on the balcony between herself and her best friend, though she hoped her mother didn't know why precisely she had been so anxious to leave the party when she bumped into her at the entrance.

Grimacing she recognised that that was probably now a hopeless hope, it was well known by those within Piltover that little occurred without the knowledge of Mr Buxton, it was true that nothing ever seemed to surprise him. It was not hard to believe that the statesman would find out about his precious heir cavorting with an ex-criminal on his own balcony, never mind the fact that they were both women, she was sure that the fallout would be spectacular. The ghost of a smile spread across her face as Caitlyn reconciled that her parents were certainly not homophobic, her mother had even set up a foundation for disadvantaged LGBT youth in Piltover with a passion for techmaturgy for goodness sake. Though she supposed it was a different matter altogether when it's your child who might possibly be gay, especially when coupled with her responsibility as the Buxton heiress and the sometimes stagnant political stances of the other slightly older statesmen in the city of 'progress.'

The sheriff frowned at her ocean coloured bedroom walls as she posed a rather difficult question to herself, was she a lesbian? It had certainly never been something she had thought about before, taking her heterosexuality as a given. Caitlyn had to admit though that from an outsider's perspective it may have appeared that she was thoroughly asexual, having never shown interest in pursuing any sort of relationship with the parade of suitors her father arranged for her. It wasn't as if the men were unattractive and a fair few of them were in fact very nice, she just didn't feel any sort of connection with them, or oh goodness she was being disgustingly romantic now but she supposed that there had never been a spark.

With a jolt Caitlyn realised that she wasn't staring aimlessly across the room, focusing her eyes she caught sight of the framed picture of herself and Vi that she had been mindlessly fixated upon, it had been taken on the day that the enforcer had passed her already extended probationary period. Three months of her 'best behaviour' as Vi put it and she had finally been made an officer, Caitlyn grinned as she remembered the pink haired woman grasping her in a tight embrace and whispering "thanks for believing in me cupcake" after receiving her badge. The picture had been taken immediately after and Vi had slung an arm around the brunette's shoulder affectionately and was positively beaming, the sheriff was caught rolling her eyes at the gesture in the photograph but she was also grinning and though it was hard to detect, she knew there had been a slight blush across her cheeks.

The memory brought a rush of warmth to the brunette under the covers until an image of herself pressing Vi against a railing and kissing her open mouthed flashed into her mind, with a horrified moan she threw a hand over her face and attempted to sink into the mattress she was lying on. Honestly she had no idea what she had been thinking, a flush spread across her face as she remembered running her hands through the enforcer's hair and recognised that the issue was that she hadn't been thinking. Caitlyn had always felt so comfortable around Vi and now there was this, with a choked sob she burrowed further into her makeshift den and groaned loudly. There was no way she would be able to look her best friend in the eyes after their...moment, she knew that Vi was out and very proud but the sheriff didn't even know where to start. Maybe she was gay, perhaps she wasn't, it was clear to her though that she couldn't trust herself being intoxicated around Vi, considering the previous evening and the night before that.

A loud bang erupted from her front door and fear surged through Caitlyn, she couldn't handle seeing Vi right now, she might shrivel up and die from sheer embarrassment. Staying resolutely still, the sheriff waited with baited breath, hoping that the visitor would get bored and make themselves scarce, perhaps if it was Vi she would give up and Caitlyn might be able to at least attempt to organise and possibly comprehend her thoughts and feelings. The knocking resumed and she sighed loudly, each bang coincided with a painful ache in her head from the last two morning's combined hangovers, throwing back the covers she stormed over to the front door and resolved herself to just tell Vi that she didn't feel well, it wouldn't be too hard to sell, she was fairly certain that she looked like shit. Flinging the door open with a scowl, her eyes widened catching sight of her visitor and she almost swore out of shock. Mr Buxton was stood with a severe expression on his face and he raised a thin eyebrow at her appearance before sidestepping her and walking hurriedly into the apartment. Caitlyn pulled the door to and turned apprehensively to face her father who was pacing anxiously, he stopped suddenly and glared at her almost bellowing "what on earth did you think you were doing?"

________

"...well, you've not given me much choice have you?" contemplated Katarina, who was sat with a glass of rum in one hand, her chin was resting on the other as her eyes narrowed, tapping one finger against her lips the assassin sighed. Vi watched with a grin as Katarina continued her textbook thinking behaviour, the enforcer chuckled and took a sip from her own glass of lager, feeling a bit tender for a third day of rum. "Hmm, I suppose I would have to snog Karma, marry Ahri and kill Soraka" the red head finally answered, she raised both of her hands at the sounds of protests from her companion and continued "yeah I know, but she's like half goat, plus you know the duchess is hot, did you see her last night?...well I suppose you didn't see too much from the balcony." Silence met her statement and she laughed at Vi's stony expression before shaking her head and exclaiming "psh, Caitlyn must be having an effect on you, you're way too serious tonight."

Vi rolled her eyes at the comment and glared at the smirking assassin over her glass, Katarina stared back for a few moments before growing bored and giving in stating "fine, I'm sorry, I hope you're not going to be a miserable cow all night." An evil grin spread across the red heads face as she contemplated her next move "okay, so snog, marry, kill...Riven, Janna and...Caitlyn" she finished with flourish, eyeing happily the enforcer's obvious displeasure at the options presented. Vi scowled in response before taking a large gulp of her pint and queried "why are you doing this?", Katarina smirked once again and shrugged, watching the pink haired woman with eyes alight, she was clearly enjoying this. The lack of response from the assassin caused Vi to sigh before replying "fine, snog Riven, marry Caitlyn and kill Janna, you happy?"

Katarina inclined her head slightly in agreement and grinned profusely "Riven's mine bitch, can I be your maid of honour, or like best man, please?" at the last word, she had thrust both hands clasped together in mock prayer towards Vi. The enforcer laughed at her theatrics before jumping up from the table and grabbing both their glasses, Katarina watched her walk towards the bar and called out "so was that a yes?” "Nah, I'm sure you'll be invited though" the pink haired woman replied over her shoulder before greeting Tony behind the bar with a wide grin, who smiled back asking politely "so how did the evening go?" Vi's smile subsided and Tony's maternal instincts kicked in as she launched into a series of questions "what happened? Are you okay hon? What did she do?" The enforcer smiled once again at how protective the bar woman was being, it was almost like having a mother, noting the serious expression on the older woman's face, Vi replied "no nothing like that, I had a great night, just at the end..."

Glaring across the bar, Tony grasped the enforcer's hand tightly and just as she opened her mouth to ask again, Vi leaned in closer and whispered "we kissed, well actually I kissed her but she kissed me back, it was pretty intense." Unable to help herself a goofy grin planted itself upon her face as she revisited the scene from last night in her head, it had happened, if Katarina had not seen them on the balcony then she would have believed it to be a pretty realistic dream. "Awww hon, that's great!" interrupted Tony enthusiastically as she regarded the ecstatic grin on Vi's face, a sombre one replaced it as she stated "yeah but that idiot over there interrupted us and Caitlyn ran off...I've tried calling her but she hasn't replied yet." The forlorn expression on her face caused Tony's heart to ache, she had gotten to know the young woman pretty well over the years and she genuinely wanted her to be happy.

"Look, don't worry, I'm sure she's probably still asleep and all that fool over there did was spook her a little" murmured Tony towards the still dejected looking enforcer, rubbing her shoulder the older woman grinned before shouting over the bar at the red head watching them "I thought assassins were supposed to be sneaky." Katarina burst into laughter at the comment and replied amicably "I thought barkeeps were supposed to get me a drink" she sauntered over to the bar with a smirk. Katarina rolled her eyes at the glare she was receiving from the older woman stating "I couldn't help myself, it was so surprising, of all the things I thought I'd see last night, the sheriff pressing my best friend against a railing and making out with her was like, I don't know somewhere near the bottom."

Raising an eyebrow at the redheads comment, Vi replied "well there were lots of surprises last night, Draven left hours before you went to go find him" the red heads glass stopped halfway towards her mouth as she froze at being caught out. Shrugging she stated "I wanted some fun" straight away Vi responded with "yeah but at the Buxton manor, where did you even go?" The assassin arched an eyebrow at the both of them watching her and grinned "lots of empty rooms in that place, besides I hadn't seen Garen in months, I mean I've had more than enough to keep myself entertained but who doesn't love a big sword...OW!" Tony had smacked Katarina with a rag at the sexual innuendo and she was still clutching her cheek indignantly even though all three of them knew that there was nowhere near enough force to warrant such a reaction.

"You're so dramatic" laughed the enforcer as Katarina turned her scowl towards her, the assassin stared at her friend retorting "says you, Caitlyn was all over you last night and you're too scared to go talk to her." Vi's face darkened and she replied petulantly "am not, just, she's obviously asleep, besides what would I even say to her?" Katarina feigned an expression of deep concentration and made an exaggerated "hmm" before grinning "do you mind if I face check your bushes?" Vi honestly felt as if her eyes would roll into the back of her head as she forcefully ignored the idiotic statement, placing both of her hands over her eyes she groaned and sank into a bar stool. Tony rubbed her shoulder soothingly and raised an eyebrow at the beaming assassin, exclaiming "you're not being a great friend here."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, this is hilarious though" relented Katarina, holding both hands up in apology "just I don't think I've ever seen you care about someone so much, I mean obviously there's me but I'm amazing." "It's a good thing you're not arrogant" replied Vi with a smirk, the red head ignored her and continued "regardless, I just think that of all the women you had to fall for, you just had to pick a straight one, one who also happens to be your boss and whose father pretty much runs the city. You don't make things easy for yourself is all I can say." Tony had been listening carefully to the assassin's monologue and watched as Vi's brows furrowed at the long list of issues, the older woman stated "you didn't see her the other night, she doesn't seem very straight to me" and the tension suddenly abated as the two champions burst into laughter.

"You're right Tony" murmured the grinning enforcer, whose cheeks were now ruddy from the good hour or two she'd spent drinking with Katarina. She turned to face both of them and was now beaming “I need to find out though, I'm going to ask her out." Running back to the table, Vi grabbed her jacket and stormed up to the bar, Katarina smirked as the pink haired woman downed the rest of her pint and stated "wish me luck guys" before hurriedly leaving the bar and almost tearing the entrance door of its hinges. Tony and Katarina watched her leave and then turned to each other, the older woman queried "what do you think will happen?" and the redhead shrugged in response before exclaiming "fucked if I know, they're either going to delay the inevitable even longer or Vi might even be able to get into the prude's bed. My money's on delaying the inevitable, if that sheriff couldn't see that Vi was completely in love with her last night. She certainly won't now."

________

Caitlyn stood frozen as she watched her father continuing to pace whilst berating her, after his initial outburst he was still muttering angrily and his face was almost maroon in colour. "I can't believe it, and to hear it from Suri no less, thank goodness it wasn't anyone of political importance. You don't even tell your mother and I that you are gay, I mean we could have done some damage control but like this, Caitlyn you were raised better than this!" The brunette was gaping at her father's increasingly unhinged behaviour and watched him incredulously as he continued his monologue whilst pacing quicker. "Honestly Caitlyn I need to know, why her? Priscilla Hyde is a lesbian and her father is the CEO of HexCorp, after the elections I could have set up a date for you or something. That hoodlum you elected into the police force has no political stock, she won't raise this families image only tarnish it. You know that tensions with Zaun are at all time high and the people of Piltover don't need to see the sheriff bedding a Zaunite criminal!"

“Vi has proven herself a thousand times” snapped Caitlyn immediately, gesturing towards the Piltover skyline from her window. Steadfastly glaring at her father, the brunette took in a deep breath and muttered “she is so much more.” A vein throbbed across Mr Buxton's right temple while his eyes narrowed, just as he opened his mouth to retort however Caitlyn strode closer to him and jabbed him in the chest with an accusatory finger. “Oh and how dare you insinuate that my personal choices would tarnish the families image, for a start I don't care and if I wanted to marry Urgot you would still have no say! I don't exist simply to help you create some sort of Buxton empire.” At this her father exploded, he had been stood clenching his fists and grinding his teeth during her speech, but at the last word he had launched forward and wrenched Caitlyn's wrist. Shock flooded the sheriff's features as she regarded the outright fury of the man across from her, his grip tightened and Caitlyn winced, hissing “get. off. me.”

“I could lose my job Caitlyn” roared her father, bearing closer and clenching his fists around her wrists, the sheriff scowled, trying to ignore the ever present pain that indicated she would probably have bruises. Mr Buxton was still red in the face, but now his eyes had narrowed dangerously to slits, “the election is in three weeks, more than enough time for such a political scandal to derail my whole platform, and for what?” Heavy breathing followed his statement, the only sound in the otherwise silent room, her father seemed to compose himself for a moment and widening his eyes, loosened his grip. Caitlyn tore her wrist free and rubbed hesitantly on the already bruising flesh, glaring at the man across from her, who was still scowling. “That shouldn't have happened, but you need to listen to me, I could not care less about whether you want to date all the women in Piltover but please just not her” pleaded her father, gesticulating wildly and pacing across the room again. “You do realise that she has caused untold hundreds of thousands in property damage, and who do you think owns most of the property in Piltover? The people I work with. The people who fund my campaigns, Caitlyn.” 

The brunette was still abjectly furious at her father for both the aggressive move and his continued stance against Vi, but even gritting her teeth she recognised the truth in what he was saying. Caitlyn knew that Vi was only trying to do her job and that in her own heavy handed way she was, but that didn't help the property owners within Piltover from having a particularly negative reaction towards anything to do with the enforcer. “I have a fight on my hands every day just to stop the council from banishing your pet project” stated Mr Buxton thoroughly exasperated, “the only reason Vi is still in Piltover is because your mother was so happy you finally had a friend and threatened to divorce me if I made you upset.” “You're making me upset right now” retorted Caitlyn with a derisive snort, crossing her arms over chest and raising an incredulous eyebrow. “You know damn well that being friends with and dating this Zaunite are two completely different kettles of fish” snapped her father, crossing his own arms across his chest and narrowing his eyes. 

As they stood scowling at one another, Caitlyn reflected that she was far too similar to the man across from her, stubborn to a fault. “I've never understood that idiom, why would you fill a kettle with fish?” posed Caitlyn, smirking at the frustrated eye roll of Mr Buxton, who groaned “I don't know, the fact of the matter is that if you pursue a relationship with this Vi-” The sheriff tried not to clench her jaw at the way her father had spat the name, before she could retort however he continued “-I will lose the election, and the very comfortable lifestyle we all enjoy will be but a distant memory.” Caitlyn snorted at the statement, enjoying somewhat the furious glare she received, “bit over dramatic wouldn't you say? I hardly doubt we will all be destitute if everyone finds out my colleague and I kissed at a party.” Mr Buxton bristled at the mention of the previous evening, trying his best not to grimace, sniffing he stated “well we shouldn't need to cross that bridge, because you're going to cut off all contact with Vi.”

Aside from Caitlyn's completely undignified snort, the apartment was silent. Staggered, the brunette gestured towards the man in front of her, refuting “I don't think so, she's my friend first and foremost, not to mention my partner at work.” Placing one hand upon her hip Caitlyn continued “and who do you think you are telling me what to do, you're not in control of me.” “No” acquiesced her father, pausing to frown at the pocket watch in his suit jacket lapel, seeming to resolve himself he stated “I might not be in control of you, but I, and the other members of the council are in control of who is employed by the city of Piltover.” Both the sheriff's eyebrows rose at the statement and gritting her teeth she hissed “are you threatening me?” immediately her father shook his head vehemently. “Don't be ridiculous, my daughter, the sheriff, fired?” sputtered Mr Buxton in protest, stopping to catch sight of the dawning look of understanding across his daughters face he murmured “that heavy handed enforcer of yours however...”

“You wouldn't” hissed the outraged brunette, eyes widening as her father growled “I am not going to let my daughter ruin her life over some Zaunite, do you have any idea what this will do to your reputation? My reputation?” Mr Buxton had become increasingly enraged throughout, and now closely resembled a tomato with a pencil moustache, the sight should have been hilarious if Caitlyn wasn't so shocked. “Let be me clear, if you do not cut off all contact, there will be no more need for an enforcer. When funding for public services comes up in discussion at the next council meeting, jobs will have to be cut and I can assure you hers will be one of them.” Clenching her jaw tightly, Caitlyn replied tersely “let's say I do listen to your insane threats, Vi will remain my partner, am I just never going to be able to speak to her again? Won't people think that's strange?” Caitlyn knew that her words had had an impact, Mr Buxton glanced perturbed to the side, she knew that internally he was weighing what he wanted against what other people would think. If she knew her father as well as she thought, he would cave to societal pressures and discard this threat.

After a moment of silent pondering, Mr Buxton sighed. “If you cease communicating for just three weeks, it will just be assumed you had a fight. After the election, things can go back to normal, and by normal I do not mean pursuing some sort of romantic relationship. If you care about this Vi and you want her to keep her job, you will follow my advice, you will keep this woman at arms length and so help me if I find out that you haven't listened to a word I've said. Someone will be on the next shuttle back to Zaun with the rest of the garbage." A tense silence followed his outburst and Caitlyn positively glowered at the man, fury etched across her features as she contemplated the very real threat. Vi loved everything about Piltover, she had managed to turn her life around since fleeing Zaun and being the enforcer had definitely helped. Even though Vi could be heavy handed and thick headed, she had helped to subdue a large part of the criminal element within the city, her familiarity with Zaun being a massive asset. Caitlyn knew that losing her role as the enforcer and being banished from Piltover would destroy Vi, gritting her teeth the sheriff resolved that hopefully losing her best friend would hurt less. 

“Mother won't be happy that you're blackmailing me” stated Caitlyn with a derisory huff, Mr Buxton bristled at the mention of his wife and snapped “she won't know, and if she does, I'll just tell her that the other members of the council voted unanimously to fire the blasted woman, and there was nothing I could do.” “She won't believe you” hissed the sheriff, already stalking towards the door and reaching for the handle, “but fine, I hope you're happy, I wouldn't want to harm your chances of re-election.” Just as Caitlyn placed her hand upon the door a loud pounding erupted from it, frightening her into stepping further away. There was only one person she knew who would be so socially inept in almost knocking the door down. “You're under arrest!” boomed Vi through the door, “for not answering any of my messages, I'm wounded cupcake, actually wounded.” The fairly obvious slurring caused Caitlyn to stare up at the ceiling, in an attempt to beseech any gods that might be watching this mess to strike her down immediately. A flashback to the previous evening reminded her that Vi had been spending the day with Katarina, gritting her teeth she recognised that there was no chance the enforcer wasn't already drunk, ugh she hated that assassin.

“Cupcake?!” hissed her father from behind, he was alternating between staring aghast at the door and his daughter who was steadily losing the will to live. “I don't like it either” whispered Caitlyn harshly, turning to glare at the man, “I'm going to have to talk to her, she's right there.” The knocking sounded again “hey listen, I brought tea, thought you might need some after last night, speaking of which, kinda want to talk about it, maybe wanna do it again, only if you wanted to of course, consent is key.” Mr Buxton began sputtering angrily, face growing beetroot once again at the audacity of the enforcer. Caitlyn groaned quietly, holding her face within her hands, wishing desperately she could disappear. “Get rid of her” snapped Mr Buxton irritably, gesturing towards the still closed door, Caitlyn composed herself with a deep breath before heading over. A hand clamped upon her shoulder and the brunette turned to push it off, glaring at the man behind her. His eyes narrowed before walking further to the side and murmuring “don't forget our deal, no communication or no enforcer.”

An icy glare was the only response Mr Buxton received as Caitlyn turned to wrench the door open, Vi stood on the other side fist raised, a massive grin appeared upon her face. “Hey you're awake” breathed the still beaming enforcer, pausing for a moment she thrust the tea clenched in one of the massive gauntlets towards Caitlyn with a flourish. The brunette frowned further at the motion and remained still, Vi erroneously presumed this was because she had just woken Caitlyn. “Sorry, I got worried when you didn't answer any of my messages” exclaimed Vi, grinning at the dishevelled woman, Caitlyn looked adorable when she had just gotten out of bed, evidenced by the previous morning and this one. "I did get them" she stated tonelessly, the grin subsided a little off Vi's face but effortlessly replied "no worries then. Are you free today, I thought maybe we could hang out, maybe catch a film or something?" Caitlyn's heart ached as she realised that Vi was asking her on a date. Remembering that her father was likely listening to every word sent a rush of indignation through her causing her face to colour in anger, Vi caught it but presumed wrongly that it was a blush.

With baited breath, Vi stepped closer to the brunette and leaned in to murmur "it's okay if you're nervous, I'm pretty nervous too" then she laughed slightly before pulling back and offering a charming grin. "So what do you think?" queried Vi hesitantly as she watched the stoic sheriff stare at the hallway carpet, Caitlyn closed her eyes and tried to mentally prepare herself for breaking her best friend's heart. "I can't" she stated finally, the enforcer attempted to recover by suggesting "okay, what about tomorrow? Or Tuesday? Any time you're free is fine really, we've got a few weeks off remember." "No" whispered the brunette, "I've got so much work to do, I-I need some time alone Vi." It was almost as if Caitlyn could literally see Vi deflate, the pained expression on her face made the sheriff feel like a complete monster. The two stared at one another until the enforcer muttered "what's wrong cupcake?" whilst attempting to grasp onto the smaller woman's shoulders.

Caitlyn continued her staring contest with the diamond pattern on the floor, trying her damnedest to avoid looking at her heartbroken partner, she knew that if she did then she might just recant her previous statement and then Vi would no longer have a job or a place in Piltover. "I can't talk about this right now" she finally blurted before flinging the door behind her open and disappearing behind it. Caitlyn stood holding the doorknob on the other side and pressed her head against the door, listening to the faint quiet of the hallway outside for a few moments. Tears burned underneath her eyes and threatened to fall, as she heard the dejected woman shuffle away from the door until an all encompassing silence returned. This was far too much for Caitlyn to deal with, being emotionally constipated did not help, especially considering Vi was unlikely to ever forgive her. It wasn't like she would be able to explain that her father was blackmailing her, not to mention if Vi found out then she would probably smash her way into the next council meeting and ensure being fired. 

“It's for the best” stated Mr Buxton, reaching out to place a hand upon Caitlyn's shoulder and exclaiming angrily when she rebuffed the move. “You've got what you wanted” hissed the brunette, the fury that had been keeping her afloat was absconding, leaving Caitlyn utterly defeated. “In three weeks time she won't even want to talk to me” continued the sheriff, glaring at her father, who tried his best to ignore the tears he could see brimming. Flinging open the door once again Caitlyn gestured from her father to the exit in a wordless dismissal, he promptly did so, pausing to adjust his bowler hat before stalking out of the apartment. Caitlyn slammed the door, before falling against it and grasping her head in her hands, if only this could be an awful dream. Pinching herself across the wrist she winced before sighting the rather dramatic bruise that her father had left, this was reality. A harsh beep emanated from the bedroom and what she was fairly certain was a concerned message from Vi, self loathing flooded through the sheriff and she could not help the sobs that racked her body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so don't hate me, I assure you the angst is relevant to the plot, what little there is. Feel free to curse me out in the comments, or commend me because you're a sadist and love some sweet delicious angst. Which if you're a massive gay like me, yeah you do.


End file.
